The Avengers Meet the Guardians of the Galaxy
by YellowRocksMySocks
Summary: Beth has just turned 18, and life couldn't be greater. After buying a mysterious locket from a flea market with her birthday cash, some crime-fighters from across the galaxy pay her and the Avengers a visit. Beth discovers that her locket will determine the fate of the universe if it finds its way into an alien warlord's clutches. Will Beth be able to save the world as we know it?
1. Happy Birthday

**HELLO! So sorry for the long break between stories, I've been getting lots of writing done ahead of time on this new one so I can update faster! This is a story that includes the Guardians of the Galaxy! I loved the movie so much and I thought that a big mega-crossover would be really fun to write! **

**This first part doesn't include them yet-sorry!- I just want to keep y'all on the edge of your seats! Please read and review! Love y'all!**

* * *

Screams and Explosions rocked the city and my eardrums alike; so loud I couldn't find my own thoughts in the cacophony of noise. I was helpless. On the ground, with rubble on top of my legs. I was pretty sure one of them was broken. Another explosion boomed right next to me. I screamed and covered my ears, only to remove my hands covered in blood with a piercing ringing resonating through my skull.

Of all of my near death experiences, this was the first time I knew I wouldn't survive. Even though I had technically died once, this was completely different. They were with me until the very end last time, when I passed on. Now, I was trapped under concrete, surrounded by fire, and my family was nowhere in sight. Not that I could see very well with all the black clouds of smoke. How everything had come to this, how all of my experiences had led me here to die a lonely and painful death. It was crushing. It was cruel._ I don't deserve to die so soon. I just turned eighteen for crying out loud. _

My last year and a half had definitely been the best of my life though. Tears streamed down my face, running through the ash and dust that coated my skin.

I couldn't bear to think of them now. _Not like this. _I couldn't stop the memories from flooding my brain, however. Their faces. Their laughter. Their love. I began to sob as another explosion rocked the ground beneath me. My heart ached far more than my body. I covered my face with my bloodied hands and wailed animalistic howls from the depths of my soul. Sounds dramatic, but I think I earned it.

It had been a mistake to assume I would live with the Avengers forever. I had envisioned them at my graduation from high school and college, my wedding, the birth of my children. I childishly believed that we would always be roommates, that my growing up wouldn't get in the way of our family. They would always be there to save the world, and I would always be there to tag along and make them breakfast the next day. They were a part of me, of my very being.

I already had the rug pulled out from under me twice, but this one felt like a knife in the heart. I shouldn't have been so naive, but this time hurt more for some reason. Maybe it was because I _wasn't _just tagging along this time. I wasn't just helping the paramedics and evacuating the citizens. I was saving the world too. I had become a superhero in my own right, and was fighting along with the best of them. I snapped my fingers, but sparks didn't come alive in my hands. Tendrils of electricity didn't dance along my fingers. I was undeniably spent; my abilities had left me when I needed them most.

I turned my head slightly to see a giant ball of fire and rubble heading right for me. _At least I'll go out with a bang, pun intended._ A final tear slid down my cheek. _This is it. _I closed my eyes, and stoically awaited for my demise.

"Goodbye."

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOUUUUUUU!" they finished, and I closed my eyes.

"Make a wish!" Steve said.

"You should wish for a Lamborghini. Or a private jet!" Clint suggested and promptly received a smack on the back of the head, courtesy of the Black Widow.

"It's _her_ birthday..." she said.

I was squeezing my eyes as tight as they would go. This was a very important birthday. It's not everyday you turn eighteen years old. _I wish...I wish..._

_I wish to stay here forever. I wish for my life to always be like this. _

I blew out the candles-all in one go, I might add. There was applause and hugs as Pepper cut into my giant yellow-frosted strawberry cake.

I laughed as Tony and Thor fought over the last corner piece. I flicked some frosting at Bruce. It landed on his glasses. He slowly turned to me and then wiped a giant glob on my forehead. We were stopped before we could go any further by Steve.

"Why do ya always gotta be the adult around here?" I whined, and stabbed my cake with my fork.

"Somebody's gotta do it. Besides, a captain has to keep his soldiers in line..." Steve replied, a smirk on his face.

"You're not the boss of me!" Tony exclaimed and catapulted a chunk of cake at Steve's head. It landed in his hair. Clint and Thor cheered. Tony began to reload.

With reflexes I didn't know I had, I ran over and popped his cake chunk into my mouth. Tony stared at me with wide, scared eyes. Natasha cracked up. "Look. We aren't using my birthday cake as ammo. It tastes too heavenly. Besides, we have confetti eggs. Deal?" I asked.

"Fine." Tony grumbled, but with laughter in his eyes.

I sat down again at the other end of the table and resumed eating my cake.

"What did you wish for, Beth?" Thor asked.

"If I tell you, it might not come true, and I can't risk that. Sorry, dude." I replied with a shake of my head.

"Midgardians have such strange birthday customs..." Thor mused. "I shall never tire of learning of your culture." he replied.

"How do Asgardians celebrate birthdays?" Natasha asked.

Thor set down his fork and furrowed his brows in thought. "Well. For the royal family, a large feast and dance would be held in the palace, and the whole kingdom would attend. For common folk, it is customary to hold smaller celebration in the home and invite loved ones. Very similar to your traditions, I suppose." he explained. "May I have more cake? It is quite delicious." he asked and held his plate out.

I chuckled. "Of course big guy." I served him another slice and we chatted over cake and lemonade for another hour.

_I wouldn't wish it any other way._


	2. Break-Ins

**Here is the second chapter! You finally get to meet the Guardians! Please review! :)**

Nova Prime entered her pin, performed the retinal scan, and spoke her voice ID, and then strode into the vault that housed the Orb. She saluted her guardsmen and stood at attention.

"I must take the Orb to our scientists for further testing. They trusted only me with its transportation. Remain here until I return it." She commanded.

The guardsmen nodded. Nova Prime then removed the Orb from the safe and left without another word.

...

Nova Prime was busy reviewing the applications for recruits in her office. As leader of the Nova Core on Xandar, it was her job to choose the new soldiers that would serve under her command. A knock at her door tore her from reading.

"Come in." she stated, and continued sifting through the holograms. "Ah, Corpsmen Dey. What can I do for you?"

He rubbed his hands together nervously. "There was chatter among the guardsmen, who were curious as to why you transported the Orb to the scientists without usual documented clearance. They weren't sure how to record the transaction in their archives...I figured I could just ask you when you removed it for the records." Dey stated.

Nova Prime froze. "I didn't." She replied, an acrid lump of fear rising in her throat.

...

Lady Sif was enjoying the Asgardian night sky on her balcony. She loved to survey the stars and constellations that dotted the heavens. Fandral came and joined her, leaning against the wall.

"It is beautiful." He commented.

Lady Sif nodded. "Yes, it is very beautiful. Life has been quite calm for us as of late, hasn't it?"

Fandral chuckled. "I agree. I have not plunged my sword through an adversary in a long while. Perhaps we travel to a distant land and see what comes to greet us?" He suggest with a raise of his eyebrow.

Lady Sif laughed. "Always looking for trouble, aren't we?"

Hogun joined his comrades on the balcony with a confused look on his face. "Lady Sif? I wish to know why you removed the Cosmic Cube from Odin's vault?"

She immediately unsheathed her sword. "I did no such thing." She answered, eyes intense. "Hurry! The Nine Realms are at stake!" She shouted, and ran towards the vault with Fandral and Hogun in tow.

...

The sound of breaking glass woke The Collector. He shot up from his bed and ran into his hall. He fearfully looked around his vast collection of intergalactic artifacts.

He found Cosmo the dog pacing and wagging his tail in the display. "Why didn't you bark?!" he screamed. Cosmo simply whined and looked confused, frantically looking between the broken window and the Collector.

Frantically searching his relics for damage, he turned and noticed one was missing.

"Oh no..." He murmured. "Not the Aether..."

* * *

"I hate meetings..." Rocket complained, and tugged at his fur.

"I doubt that you've ever been to one in your entire life!" Gamora shot back while irritably tapping her foot.

You could say that the group was a little on edge. They had received a demand from the Nova Corps to immediately report to headquarters, and they weren't too happy about it. They had been enjoying their time simply flying around in space. Now, they were stuck sitting in a foyer.

"Greetings, Guardians." Nova Prime said and as strode up to the group. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please come with me. There is much to speak about." she turned and briskly walked away.

"She seems troubled." Drax commented as they stood and followed her.

"I am Groot." he said, and nervously cracked his shoulders.

"I agree. It must be something big. Which, isn't good." Rocket replied.

...

"THANOS HAS FIVE INFINITY STONES?!" The Guardians shouted. Except for Groot of course. They were standing in a line in front of Nova Prime's desk.

She put her hand up, anger and frustration barely contained. "Somehow, the Tesseract, Aether, and Power Stone were all stolen from their safeguards and we hadn't known the whereabouts of the other two until we heard that Thanos had found them! Whomever stole them was able to bypass our security, Asgard's, and The Collector's."

"How is that even possible?" Drax asked.

"The thieves were able to shapeshift. Into perfect copies of myself, Lady Sif of Asgard, and The Collector. Even genetically- our Vault accepted all my scans, so we know this isn't simple shape shifting." She explained.

"Well, who do we know can do that?" Peter asked.

"The Skrulls." Nova Prime stated.

* * *

"Hey Rocket? Are we any closer to finding the stone?" Peter asked, while rewinding the Awesome Mix 1. It was only the seventh time he had asked in the last half hour, which was actually quite an improvement.

"I told you I'm working on it!" Rocket replied, his whiskers twitching angrily. He continued adjusting the tracker that was sweeping the galaxy for any signs of the yellow stone. "We're talking 'bout searching the entire Milky Way..."

"It will be alright, Quill. Like you say, go with the flow?" Drax said, trying his hand at metaphors again. He had been practicing, but the figurative words still felt foreign in his mouth and came out sounding more like a question than a statement. But hey, he didn't ask about the "flow's destination" or why he had to follow it.

Peter chuckled. "Yeah, go with the flow." He pressed play and _Hooked On a Feeling _began filling the main area of the ship.

"Groot? Will you please pass me the screwdriver?" Gamora asked. She was busy making adjustments to her weapons next to Drax, who was sharpening his knives.

Groot passed her the screwdriver with a smile. "Thank you." She said, smiling slightly back at him.

"I am Groot..." He replied and beamed. After a moment, he began pruning some stray leaves off of his shoulders by eating them. Drax smiled a bit at his strange friend. The Guardians certainly had grown closer in the year of their exploration and defense of the galaxy.

Suddenly, Rocket's holograms began flashing and an alarm was heard throughout the Milano. Everyone looked at Rocket expectantly.

"Looks like we found it!" Rocket exclaimed, then frowned. "Crap. Uh, you're probably not gonna like this, Quill..." Rocket added.


	3. Flea Market

**Here's the third chapter!**

I thoughtfully munched on my rainbow snow cone as I peered into different store windows. Fury had given me a thousand dollars as a birthday present (who the heck does that?) and so I went shopping the Friday afternoon after my birthday. I wasn't really interested in what the shops had to offer. Mostly high-end boutiques whose clothes were too fancy and too expensive for my style.

As I approached the north side of Central Park, I stumbled upon a flea market. There were booths after booths after booths with everything from a-to-z. I wandered the stalls for a while until I found one with giant bins of necklaces and bracelets.

I dug through the barrels of jewelry when suddenly I felt drawn to this particular spot inside, like something was calling toward my hand. Almost against my own accord, I shoved my hand further and further down the barrel until I felt its wooden base, following the strange direction. My fingers felt a chain and I tugged until I brought the necklace to the surface.

It was a silver chain with a locket on the end. The locket was hexagonal and had beautiful swirl designs carved into it. Something rattled inside-I tried to pop the locket open but it wouldn't budge. Still, I felt the inexplicable need to purchase it.

"How much?" I asked the lady managing the stall. She was tall and thin and exotic looking, with really dark, almost purple eyes. A head scarf contained her hair and she wore a similar one around her neck.

"One-hundred and fifty, sweet cheeks." she replied, her voice having a strange quality that I couldn't put my finger on. It didn't sound like any accent I had heard of before.

I smiled. "Awesome!" I gave her the bills. "Thanks!" I said, and turned away.

"Of course." she purred, restacking the money.

I immediately strung the necklace around my neck. A strange sensation came over me, kinda tingly and traveling from my neck to the ends of my fingers, toes, and scalp. _Eh, probably just a shiver. It _is_ kinda nippy out. _I exited the flea market and decided to stroll through Central Park on my way home. I made my way under the cover of trees. They provided a slight shade and the beams of light shining through the leaves were beautiful. I twiddled the locket in my fingers. Whatever was inside continued to bounce around, creating a melodic twinkling. I was so hypnotized by it that I almost didn't hear the eerie snapping of twigs behind me.

I quickly turned around. Nobody was on the path. "I know you're out there! I have pepper spray!" I shouted, and held out my canister. I waited a moment before turning back around and walking briskly away. After a bit the snapping began again. _Oh Lord. _I was about to whip around and begin chaotically spraying my mace, but only a raccoon was there to greet me.

It blinked innocently at me and scratched its ear with it paw. I laughed. "Oh, it's just you. You're a cute little guy, but I gotta get going."

The raccoon rose onto its hind legs and stood.

"Who're you callin' cute, humie?" it growled and crossed it arms.

"HOLY CRAP!" I screamed and ran away. _The guy must have laced my snow cone with something..._

"Hey! Come back!" the rodent shouted. I looked back and saw it running after me.

I shrieked and ran faster, only to slam into a tree. A tree with arms, legs, and a face. That was smiling at me. My mind snapped in two. I froze and just gaped at the massive plant-man.

"I am Groot." it grumbled indignantly, and began reaching for my neck.

"Just give us the necklace and nobody gets hurt!" the raccoon said, standing on my other side. There was nowhere to run.

I screeched and covered my eyes, spraying the raccoon and then the tree creature in the face with the pepper spray.

"AAAHHHHHHH!" they both yelled and scratched at their eyes. "What the heck was that?!" The raccoon screamed. I made my escape.

"I am Groot!" The plant-man yelled in response. He began running after me, his giant legs catching up with mine in mere seconds. It grabbed the back of my shirt. I thrashed around and tried smacking his hands away to no avail.

"Put me down!" I shouted. "I bought this necklace fair and square!"

"Who cares, Blondie?" The raccoon said. "We need it - the fate of the galaxy depends on us!" He explained with a sarcastic sweep of his paws. _They must be aliens. My life is unreal._

I barked a laugh while still trying to break free of the tree-guy's grasp. "Yeah, right. I don't know who y'all are -frankly, _what_ y'all are- but I don't care. I've been around the block a time or two and I'm not afraid of some freak show aliens. Put. Me. Down." I commanded and set my glare onto the tree.

I could have sworn he looked almost hurt at my freak show comment. He mumbled "I am Groot." and set me down gently. Truthfully, I felt kinda bad about it.

I brushed myself off. "Thank you." I replied with a nod. "Goodbye." I said, and turned and walked away. They didn't follow me.


	4. Drug Test

**Sorry for the month between updates! I'm taking a college English class and it has required the most reading I've ever done in my life! Enjoy and review please! I LOVE hearing from y'all!**

* * *

"Hey Bruce?" I called into the lab. "Can you perform a drug test?"

He and Tony looked up from their current experiment. "Why? Have you been tripping acid behind the mall?" Tony asked jokingly, but became serious once he saw my expression. I think it might have been a mix of nervousness and bewilderment.

"Nope." I answered. "But today when I was shopping and bought a snow cone, a talking raccoon and giant tree man chased me in the woods and tried to steal my new locket." I explained and pointed to my necklace.

"Uh, why don't we do some blood work...?" Bruce replied.

...

"There aren't any drugs in your system, Beth." Bruce said as he washed his hands. "Not a trace of anything...and you aren't dehydrated or suffering from heatstroke. So, I really don't know what could have caused your hallucinations."

I put my head in my hands. "Then I guess what happened really did happen...the raccoon said that he needed my locket because 'the galaxy was in trouble' or something...what could possibly be so important about it?" I asked.

Bruce and Tony glanced at each other and then a look of horror crossed their faces. "Is there something inside your locket?" Tony asked. "Like a tiny rock, perhaps?"

I furrowed my brows. "Uh, yeah. That's what the rattling sounds like. And when I put it on for the first time, a strange sensation came over me..."

"Hey Jarvis?" Bruce said to the AI. "Tell everyone to meet in the third floor conference room-now."

"Yes sir." Jarvis replied, and I was ushered out of the infirmary and to the elevator without an explanation.

...

Everybody was tense. I sat in a chair around the giant table, and was nervously twiddling the locket between my fingers. The longer I touched it, the calmer I became. But, I wasn't necessarily noticing since I was too busy trying to read everybody's lips as they huddled on the other side of the table.

"Alright. Why don't we all take a seat and discuss what's going on?" Bruce said and everyone sat down.

"We probably should have clued you in a while ago, Beth..." Tony said.

I frowned. "Wow, already off to a great start..." I said.

If Tony heard me he didn't show it. Clint smirked, however.

"We have reason to believe that your locket contains one of the six Infinity Stones. They are a collection of gems that hold the extreme power and magic of the cosmos. The Tesseract is one of them." He began explaining.

"Oh, the blue cube from the Battle of New York?" I asked.

"Yeah, along with the Aether, and four others we don't know much about. We're thinking that your locket contains the third, which means that you are wearing one of the greatest sources of energy and destruction in the universe around your neck."

I swallowed. "There's no way. I bought this at the flea market by Central Park in a barrel of jewelry." I said.

Thor sighed. "Beth, we are almost certain that the raccoon and large tree creature you saw today were aliens, not hallucinations."

"So, they're probably looking for you right now. Hunting you down, even." Steve said. "Until we know more about this situation, you have to stay in the tower and have one of us with you at all times. I know it's not ideal, but it's for your safety."

"Unfortunately, this means that we should also run tests on your locket to try and determine its properties." Bruce added. "We have no idea which stone it is or what it is capable of."

I unclasped the locket and handed it over to my uncle. As soon it came off my neck, I felt like my mind clouded slightly. I shook it off as disappointment.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. But why does this stuff always have to happen to me?"

...

It had been a few days without any funny business regarding my locket-that's-apparently-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction, except for the literally _constant_ attention from my family members. Bruce, Clint, and Natasha were pretty chill, but Tony, Thor, and Steve were downright annoying. Like, ANNOYING. Tony just wouldn't shut up and Steve and Thor thought that they needed to assist me with every single thing. I'm surprised they didn't try to eat my food for me.

"Yes, Thor. I'm positive that I don't need help making a sandwich." I replied a little snarkily as I grabbed the meat and cheese out of the fridge. "All I did was buy a stupid locket..." I muttered.

Thor sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I know that you are frustrated, Beth." he said. "But, you must understand. An Infinity Stone is extremely dangerous. You have seen the destruction the Tesseract has caused. If you locket were to fall into the wrong hands, it would endanger the entire world."

I exhaled. "You're right. I'm sorry-I'm being kind of immature. But, I also think I can be trusted with basic activities such as showering and eating without constant surveillance...I'm not even wearing the necklace right now. It's down in the lab. Whatever aliens tried to steal it obviously moved on..." I finished constructing my lunch and proceeded to take a massive bite.

A moment passed before alarms sounded and Jarvis spoke over the intercom. "CODE RED. Unauthorized landing of spacecraft on the helipad. CODE RED."

I dropped my sandwich. "You've _got _to be kidding me..."

Thor called Mjolnir from the couch. "Let us meet our guests..." He said, a twinkle in his eye at the prospect of bashing something with his hammer.

...

I followed my brother up to the launchpad. As I stepped out onto the roof, I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the sunlight. My family was standing battle-ready except for Bruce, who always tried to remain diplomatic unless it was absolutely necessary to let loose.

Next to a sleek blue and orange spaceship were five beings. The raccoon and tree man from earlier, along with a green woman with a death glare, a large blue man with interesting red markings and muscles bulging out of his muscles, and what looked like a regular dude.

"Um, hello. We don't mean you any harm. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." The regular man said, kind of awkwardly sweeping his hand across his group. He looked the least threatening. "I'm Starlord. Or Peter Quill. But I prefer Starlord."

He stepped forward, his hands on his hips. "Anyway, we need that stone. You probably don't know, but it's a part of the-"

"Infinity Stones?" I interrupted. "We know about those. The Tesseract, Aether, and now my locket, among others we don't know much about." My arms were crossed. "Why couldn't your friends have asked nicely instead of ambushing me in Central Park?"

"Hey! You're the one who sprayed fire into my and Groot's eyes!" The raccoon shouted from atop the tree man's-apparently named Groot-shoulders. Groot nodded in agreement.

"It was just pepper spray! You were attacking me!" I shouted back, pointing at the two.

Tony put his metal-covered arm in front of me. "Let's settle down!" He commanded. "Obviously, there is some tension leftover from the altercation in Central Park, but let's try and be civil."

The raccoon scoffed. "Fine, but no more 'pepper spray' attacks from Blondie." He pointed back.

"Good with me." I said and glared at the stupid rodent.

Starlord sighed and the green woman pinched the bridge of her nose, which made me think that this type of argument featuring the raccoon happened often.

"As I was saying, we need that stone. The galaxy is in grave danger. An alien overlord named Thanos has the other five stones and is trying to take over the entire universe. If he gets his hands on that locket, it's pretty certain that everybody will die. He won't be able to be stopped."

"Well, we _are _the Avengers. We protect Earth. So, why don't we work together? I like the odds of twelve against one better than five." Steve suggested.

"Who is the twelfth? I only see five Guardians and six 'Avengers'..." The muscled blue man said.

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Seriously?" I say. "A raccoon is a superhero but I'm not?!"

Groot wrapped his arms around the raccoon before he could claw me. "How dare you!" It shouted. Suddenly, both groups were screaming at each other and were milliseconds away from attack.

Thunder darkened the sky in seconds. "ENOUGH!" Thor shouted, and lightning cracked above our heads. Everyone was immediately silenced. "These petty arguments get us NOWHERE! If the galaxy is in danger, _both _my homes could fall in the crossfire. Let us go inside, get better acquainted, and form a plan without harming anyone."

...

It was pretty tense inside. Partly because of our new not-sure-if-they're-hostile guests, and partly because nobody was talking or making eye contact. AT ALL. Natasha seemed perfectly at ease, however, and was peacefully cleaning her gun at the table.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" I suddenly shouted, and grabbed my head in my hands. "OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION ON OUR HANDS AND SITTING AROUND NOT SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER DOESN'T GET US ANY FURTHER TO FINDING A SOLUTION!"

Everybody looked extremely bewildered. Frightened, even. I turned to Groot and the raccoon. "I'm sorry I sprayed you with pepper spray. I was just really scared when you attacked me and that's something earth people use to defend themselves."

Groot smiled. "I am Groot." I took that to mean he accepted my apology.

The raccoon looked uncomfortable. Groot elbowed him. "Uh, thank you for apologizing. We are sorry that we attacked you like that." The raccoon replied, looking extremely in pain.

"Be thankful. Rocket is not known for saying sorry." The green woman said.

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't we actually introduce ourselves?" Clint said. "I'm Hawkeye-world's best archer." The rest of my family proceeded to introduce themselves as well.

"I'm Gamora. Expert assassin." She said.

"I am Drax the Destroyer." The blue man said.

"I'm Rocket. Detonation and weapons expert." The raccoon said with a proud puff of his chest.

"I am Groot." The tree man repeated. I now assumed that those were the only words he knew. This time they actually made sense.

"You already know me. Starlord: Greatest outlaw in the galaxy." The man said. Gamora rolled her eyes. It reminded me of Natasha and Tony.

"And I'm Beth. I'm basically the Avengers' roommate and honorary team member. Now that introductions are out of the way, why don't we talk about my locket?" I suggested.

"Basically, out of the six Infinity Stones, Thanos has five. We also know that he has an army of shape shifting aliens known as the Skrulls at his command. Thanos was able to steal the stones so easily because the Skrulls would shape shift into people who had access to the stones, making it completely easy to just walk in and take them." Starlord explained.

"Each stone has its own properties that give the owner different abilities. When used together in a device known as the Infinity Gauntlet, the wearer is virtually impossible to defeat. They possess the power of the entire universe. We are 99% positive that Thanos has both the Gauntlet and the five other stones, making yours the last step until he takes over the universe." Gamora added.

My stomach dropped. "Oh." I squeaked. "I now understand why this is such a big deal..."

"Exactly. This is the biggest deal of any of our lives. So, we need to form a plan. One that won't end with Thanos destroying everything." Rocket said.

"Obviously, he's coming for the final stone. Its protection is the most important thing right now." Natasha said. "We can also assume that he will send a Skrull to steal it. So, we need to figure out a way to determine who the impostor is when they eventually come. Staying together constantly isn't possible."

Bruce was drumming his fingers on the table. "The Skrulls are able to completely copy a person, right down to their DNA. So, a biological sensor or something of that nature won't be effective."

Everybody nodded. An idea popped into my head. "Guys. I think we're overthinking this. The Skrulls don't possess people or destroy the original person; they're just a copy. We can have Jarvis constantly play security feeds on the living room television. If we see two of the same person, one of them is obviously the Skrull. We put both on lockdown and interrogate them. It'll be super simple to figure out who the real person is just by asking them personal questions. Easy as pie." I finished, proud of myself.

The rest of the group looked at me with a sort of awe. "I am Groot." he said with a nod.

"I agree." Drax said. "You are proving yourself to be quite the asset to this team. I am sorry that I doubted you before." he said.


	5. A Long Day

**Sooooo sorry for the long break! School is coming to a close next week and I have had TONS of college English to do, along with my normal workload. I will hopefully be able to update more often over Christmas vacation. Love y'all and here is a new chapter! Please keep the review coming because they are really sweet and helpful! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

* * *

We sat in silence for a while. Groot really wasn't the type of guy to initiate conversation. At first I thought that he still might be a little upset with me.

I awkwardly cleared my throat. "Hey, Groot?" I asked. He looked at me. "I just wanted to say how sorry I am...again. I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was kidnapped and tortured last year...and so I carry pepper spray now."

Groot eyes widened at my mention of the incident. He looked troubled for a moment before his face lit up, as if he suddenly had an idea. Groot held his hand out palm up. He concentrated for a second, and then a small flower began to grow until he picked it and gave it to me. It was light blue and smelled wonderfully. Groot smiled, and I knew I was forgiven.

"Have you been with the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while?" I asked, twirling the flower in my fingers. Groot nodded. "Who have you known the longest?" Groot held his hand a little off the floor, signaling shortness. "Rocket?" I clarified, and I realized that yes or no questions would be easiest with him. Groot nodded vigorously and smiled.

"He's quite a character..." I said with a smile. Groot chuckled, or what I can assume was a chuckle. It was a rough sound, kind of like wood scraping against itself. I assumed he was laughing from the slight shake of his wooden shoulders and his tiny smile.

I didn't talk again for a while. It was nice to sit in silence with somebody who didn't mind it. A thought popped into my head and I cleared my throat. "Are...are you scared? About Thanos and this whole the-fate-of-the-universe-is-in-our-hands thing?" Groot shrugged. I took that as he wasn't sure how to feel right now, since nothing was really happening. Groot patted my knee with his giant hand, as if to tell me not to worry.

I smiled and put the flower in my hair.

* * *

We decided to give the Guardians a tour of the Tower since they would be staying with us. .Right now, we were on the elevator, heading toward the gym and lab.

"And here, we have the gym. It is an entire floor dedicated to perfecting our battle skills, and just to stay in shape." Tony said with a flourish of his hand. We entered, and the Guardians gasped.

"This is amazing." Gamora commented. Peter just nodded, his mouth wide open.

"As you can see, we have a boxing ring, combat dummies, a gun/archery range, and your basic exercise equipment as well. There are plenty of treadmills and punching bags to go around."

"I like to come in here and practice with the weapons. It's a good stress reliever. The punching bag is also pretty effective." I said.

"Do any of you spar?" Natasha asked. "We all are trained in various types of boxing and self-defense. It would be a good idea to train together." she suggested.

"I spar every day for at least an hour." Gamora said proudly. Peter rolled his eyes.

"I also enjoy hand-to-hand combat." Drax agreed. Natasha smiled.

Bruce cleared his throat. "I think that Drax and Groot will especially enjoy this next area of the gym. Follow me." he said with a knowing smirk.

We went through side door into the Hulk-Buster floor, as Tony fondly named it. It was filled with all sorts of obstacles and giant objects meant for smashing. The walls were also ultra sound proof and could withstand immense amount of force. It was built for Bruce to let loose when he needed it.

"This is what we like to call the 'Hulk-Buster floor'. Meant for smashing and letting off steam." he explained.

"So, I am _supposed_ to try and destroy these things?" Drax asked, his face filled with awe.

Bruce chuckled. "Yep."

Immediately he ran with a gleeful shout (or as gleeful as the guy could get) and jumped on car, denting it quite dramatically. Groot smiled and shot one of his arms through a monster truck tire and threw it against the wall.

"Watch out. They'll want to spend all of their time in here." Peter joked.

* * *

Pizza was ordered for dinner. We ordered cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian, and supreme. Groot happily soaked up a giant bucket of water with some fertilizer we stirred in. Tendrils grew off of his hand and rested in the water.

"You would not believe how hard it is to find a decent slice of pizza in space!" Peter remarked as he bit into some Hawaiian. "Even if it's something remotely related to pizza, it always has weird alien toppings on it. Eyeballs and stuff." he explained, and made a face.

"Blech." I replied.

Rocket was stuffing his face full of pepperoni. There was even a glob of cheese on his right ear "I've never had pizza before. This stuff's pretty great!" he exclaimed, and finished of his slice.

"Indeed. I am so far enjoying this Terran cuisine." Drax commented. He had already eaten a whole cheese pizza and was now working on a supreme.

"Is 'Terran' another name for 'Earth'? Like Midgard?" I asked.

"Yeah. There's all sorts of names for each planet. It just depends on where you're from." Peter answered with a shrug.

"How long have you been in space?" I asked him. "You lived on Earth for some time, right?"

Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I could tell that what I had asked was really personal. "Uh, yeah. When I was eight, I was kidnapped by this group of alien bounty hunters called the Ravagers. That was 1988. This is actually the first time since then that I have been to Earth. A lot has changed." he said.

"Oh. Wow." I said. I wasn't really sure how to respond. "I'm sorry if what I asked was too private..."

"Oh no, don't feel bad!" He said with a wave of his pizza slice. "It's a perfectly normal question. Er, at least for me." Peter seemed pretty casual, but his eyes showed that there was more to the story that he wasn't sharing.

* * *

"And, here is where you will be sleeping." I said and pointed to Drax's new room. I was walking the Guardians to each of their rooms to complete their tour of the Tower.

"It has a full bathroom, too. Shower and everything..." I added. Drax walked slowly inside as he studied his new surroundings.

"These are acceptable living arrangements." Drax said and nodded.

I laughed. "Good. Oh, and before I forget. The Tower is equipped with an artificial intelligence named Jarvis. Jarvis is an assistant who can help you with anything. He is always on; you just have to ask for him. Hey Jarvis?" I asked, and looked at the ceiling.

"Yes, Miss Beth. I am so glad that you finally introduced me to our guests." Jarvis said.

Rocket, and Groot jumped. Jarvis chuckled. "It is nice to meet you. Like Miss Beth said, I am at your service. Please do not hesitate to ask."

"Can you really help us with _anything_?" Drax crossed his arms in the doorway, suspicious of the extent of Jarvis's powers.

"He's a literal kind of guy, Jarvis." Rocket explained, staring at the ceiling.

"Ah, I see." Jarvis replied. "Technically speaking, I cannot help you with virtually anything, but rather a multitude of services."

"That is good to know." Drax said ominously, and shut his door. I made a face, and Rocket chuckled.

We walked a few more steps to the next door. "Rocket, this room is for you." I said, and he excitedly scurried inside, and slammed the door. Shouts of glee could be heard on the other side.

Groot's face morphed into a dejected expression and his tree shoulders slumped.

Rocket opened his door almost as quickly as he had closed it. "You comin' Groot?" He asked, and ran back inside to jump on the bed.

"A guy could definitely get used to this!" he exclaimed as he flopped down onto the sheets.

Groot's face lit up and he ducked under the doorway. The giant tree man joined Rocket, who was jumping on the bed. The floor creaked dangerously, but the level below was the Hulk-buster room so I wasn't really worried.

"I guess we're moving along." I turned to see a huge grin on both Gamora and Peter's faces.

"What has y'all so happy?" I asked as we moved on to what would be Peter's room.

"I finally have a bathroom to myself!" They both shouted in unison, and then glared at each other for doing so.

...

I finished the tour and then ventured into the kitchen to find Thor and Tony drinking a beer on the couch. I grabbed a soda from the fridge and flopped on the adjacent couch.

They chuckled. "Long day?" Tony asked, and took another sip.

I nodded and smiled a bit. "Weird day. The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' seem like good people, though. Er, aliens. Well, I guess Peter is a human. Anyway, they're pretty cool."

"I agree. They shall make most formidable allies." Thor commented.

I drank some root beer. "It's hard to believe that this is really my life sometimes, ya know? That _I _found a stone that holds the fate of the universe. That an alien warlord is eventually coming to destroy everything we've ever known. Other teenagers just have to worry about their upcoming physics test..." I shook my head in disbelief.

Tony laughed. "I think the same thing every day. But, then I remember that other adults just sit behind a desk all day long. Being a superhero is a great privilege. Sure, it sucks a lot of times, but at the end of the day, we save lives. That's the coolest life ever."

"Thanks. I really needed to hear that. Can we make breakfast for them tomorrow?" I asked.

"They need to know what bacon tastes like..."

Thor and Tony laughed and we clinked our drinks together.


	6. Good Morning World

**Apologies for not updating in a while, school is killer and I was out of town a lot last week. This chapter is mostly for seeing more of the Guardians and them getting to know The Avengers. The next chapter is more intense, don't worry! :) Happy New Year!**

* * *

The kitchen smelled amazingly. I had waffles and pancakes keeping warm in the oven, and was currently frying up bacon and sausage. I had woken up at six, and it was now 8:30. Scooping up the last of the sausage onto a plate, I turned to the fridge to grab the orange juice and milk. I also turned on the coffee pot. A giant yawn escaped me, and I poured myself a mug.

"Early morning?" Gamora asked with a smirk. I whirled around to find her leaning against the doorframe.

"Gah!" I exclaimed, and almost spilt my coffee on myself. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on people? Natasha and Clint think it's the funniest thing..." I replied with a frown. "And yes. I did have an early morning - I made breakfast for everyone."

Gamora smiled. "That is very kind of you. Unfortunately, I can't speak very well for my colleagues; it is I who normally must wake them up with no less than a cannon blast."

I chuckled. "Same. Natasha usually wakes up this early to meditate and stuff, but I guess yesterday took a lot out of everyone." I replied, and yawned again.

Gamora silently walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug. She took a hesitant sip and then sighed. "This is good. It is called coffee?" she tried out the foreign word.

I nodded. "We all LOVE it. Coffee has this chemical in it called caffeine, which helps you wake up and it gives you energy. Practically everyone is addicted to it here on Earth. Hey Jarvis?"

"Good morning, Miss Beth. Good morning, Lady Gamora. How may I be of service?" he replied.

Gamora's eyes trailed to the ceiling where she smiled at Jarvis' greeting.

"Could you wake everybody up? I don't want their breakfast getting cold...try 'We Built This City'. Tony hates it..." I suggested.

Gamora looked at me quizzically. "You see." I said with a grin.

A second later, one of my favorite 80's tunes came blasting through the speakers. Gamora was startled, and we both began to hear the grumbled and shouts of our families as they headed down the stairs.

"You know I hate Starship!" Tony yelled as he trudged down the stairs, everyone else in tow. "Sorry excuse for rock music!"

"What is this awful racket?!" Drax shouted as he rubbed his eyes.

"It's some crappy Earth song!" Rocket answered. By now they were walking through the doorway. Half of Rocket's fur was flatted on his face in his version of bed head.

"I am Groot!" The tree man exclaimed with a frown as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah. This ain't as good as that music we heard in Sector 3 by a long shot..." Rocket replied.

Gamora and I watched this procession with quite a bit of mirth. Suddenly, Rocket started sniffing the air.

"Pancakes?!" Peter shouted as he jumped in the air. "Are we having pancakes?! I haven't had pancakes since I was on Earth!"

Everybody raced to the table and stared at me expectantly. "I'm glad you're all so excited. I made pancakes, waffles, bacon, and sausage. There's also orange juice, milk, chocolate syrup for chocolate milk, and plenty of coffee."

Gamora helped me set out all the food and drinks on the table. "You cooked this feast for us?" Drax asked. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I wanted to welcome y'all into our home, and we have a big day ahead of us."

"What do you mean by big day? Are we gonna have to work and stuff?" Clint whined. I rolled my eyes.

"Training. I figured that today, we should all practice in the gym and figure out each person's fighting skills and style." I explained. "If we are going to fight together we have to understand each other."

"That makes a lot of sense. Good idea." Steve said. "But for now, I need Tony to pass me the waffles."

* * *

"Ah! Ouch! Wham!" Rocket cheered as we all watched Natasha kick Peter's butt in the boxing ring. Nobody was really surprised that this was happening. Peter had challenged her earlier, by asking if she had ever fought with a "real man" before, and waggled his eyebrows. She politely obliged with a raise of hers. Clint looked like he wanted to punch Peter's lights out.

Peter didn't see it coming. Natasha might has well have been taking a nap with how easy she was going on him. She barely had to sidestep Peter's erratic punches, and he already had a bloody lip and a black eye.

"You're pretty good, Spider-Lady." Peter said, as he held his fists up in a wobbly fight stance. "Very good..." he continued in a purposefully sultry voice. Natasha rolled her eyes and promptly thigh-choked Peter to the ground.

The Guardians gasped. We, however, weren't surprised by the Black Widow's signature move.

He smacked the floor of the ring to signal his surrender. Natasha promptly stood and watched smugly as Peter recovered, coughing a few times and rubbing his throat. He sat on the ground, leaning back on his hands and breathing heavily.

Natasha leaned down into his face and held up his chin with her hand. Peter looked more frightened than I have ever seen someone before.

"I recommend you stop your lewd behavior, or that was just the beginning. Are we clear?" she asked in a low, calm voice and a raise of her eyebrow. The only other sound in the gym was Peter's strangled breathing.

He gulped. "Yes ma'am." he answered in a shaky voice.

Natasha smiled and stood. "Who's next?" she challenged.

"I would like to spar with Drax, if you do not mind, Natasha." Thor said. Drax perked up at the prospect of fighting my brother.

"Of course not." she said, and held the ropes up for Thor and Drax to step through.

Drax and Thor cracked their joints and loosened up. "Where did you train?" Thor asked the alien man. "I was brought up as a warrior..." he gloated, his old arrogance shining through for a moment.

"Prison." Drax answered matter-of-factly.

Thor chuckled. "Then this should be interesting, my friend." he said, and got into the typical stance.

Drax nodded and did the same. "Very interesting."

They sparred for about ten minutes. We all watched silently this time, their grunts the only noise to be heard. They decided to call a draw since neither Drax nor Thor was tired yet.

Thor clapped Drax on the back as they exited the ring. "You make a formidable opponent." he complimented.

Drax smiled. "As do you."

"Hey Beth. That's the firing range right?" Rocket asked, and pointed to the targets and dummies by the far wall. "How powerful of a blast can those targets withstand?"

"Erm, I'm not sure." I answered with a shrug. "We use them for arrows, guns, and Steve's shield."

"So, would a small blast, say from a cannon or so, destroy them?" he continued.

I frowned. "Don't blow up our targets." I said. Rocket's ears drooped and we all laughed.

"Do you ever practice on them?" Gamora asked. "What weapons are yours?"

"Well, I technically don't have any of my own...I borrow my family's..." I said.

"Well, well, well. Can we have a demonstration?" Peter suggested.

I glanced at my family, unsure of myself. Clint winked at me, and I was filled with confidence.

"Prepare to be amazed..." I joked as I walked over to the bow hanging on the wall. I pulled the quiver over my shoulders and cracked my neck. Stringing an arrow onto the bow, I locked eyes with the target. The only thing I could hear was the calming exhale exiting my nose. _You got this, Beth. Make a good first impression. You can't have them thinking you're a weenie._

I let the arrow fly. It made a _shhhk_ sound upon landing smack in the bullseye. I immediately fired four more arrows, each landing in the middle of the other targets. I smiled to myself as everybody applauded. After awkwardly curtsying and exchanging the bow and quiver for Steve's shield, I faced the rubber dummies and rolled my shoulders a few times. Planting my feet, I flung the shield in a perfect arc towards the first dummy, and it ricocheted off the other two before effortlessly landing back into my outstretched hand. I even impressed myself.

"On that note, why don't we have everyone else show off their weaponry skills?" Tony suggested. The others quickly separated to get their weapons.

"I'm sure glad she's on our side..." Rocket mused as he and Groot walked away.

"I am very amazed with Beth's skills. We are lucky to be fighting beside her." Gamora commented as her and Drax turned around.

I blushed a little, even though they weren't actually saying those things to me. _At least I know I stand well with the aliens..._

* * *

Another car hit the wall. Glass shattered and creaking metal landed on the ground. Thor, Steve, Bruce, Drax, and Groot were showing off their strength. Steve high-fived Thor after his almost casual tossed of the sedan across the Hulkbuster floor. Bruce has transformed a few minutes earlier, and the Hulk was gleefully running around the arena, smashing everything in his path. Drax observed with awe.

"I thought _I _was the Destroyer..." he said. I laughed, and Steve hurled a tire at the Hulk, who caught it and tore it in half like it was a sheet of paper.

"The Hulk _is_ pretty powerful." I said.

"Very powerful indeed." the blue and red alien agreed.

* * *

"Can we watch the Lego Movie?" I asked the group. It had been a tiring day, and I figured watching a movie together would "boost team morale" or something like that. "It just came out and it looks really cute!"

I ignored Clint and Tony's snickering as I looked through our movie cabinet - just in case I couldn't get them to agree with me. "Please?" I tried again, and turned around with my best puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" Bruce cried with a glint in his eye. "Not that face!"

"It shall yield us powerless!" Thor exclaimed, and dramatically shielded himself from me by crouching behind Natasha 's lithe frame. She rolled her eyes, but cracked a smile.

"Many have tried, but none can withstand her hypnotic gaze!" Steve added.

Gamora and Peter smiled at our childish display, but Drax stood and faced my family. "Hurry! Do as she says if we are to survive!" he shouted, completely unaware that we were joking. Everybody awkwardly stopped what they were doing. My family wasn't really sure how to react.

"C'mon man!" Rocket said while throwing his paws in the air. "They're just messing around. Beth can't really hypnotize people." He said. The raccoon turned to me and spoke quietly out of the corner of his mouth. "You can't, right?"

I chuckled. "Don't worry, no weird hypnosis powers for me. Can we please just watch the movie? I think y'all will like it."

"Why not? I haven't seen an Earth movie in years. I'll actually be able to understand what they're saying." Peter said.

I pressed the select button on the remote, and the movie began to play. Everybody situated themselves on the couches. Besides Groot, who was sitting on the floor with Rocket perched on his shoulder.

"Jarvis? Movie mode, please. Thanks!" I said, and the lights dimmed while popcorn began popping in our machine.

"Fancy." Gamora complimented with a nod of her head.

Five minutes later, everybody paused, popcorn held just out of our open mouths. All of our eyes were trained on Peter, who looked really confused and weirded-out. All except for Rocket, who was laughing and getting popcorn all over Groot. The tree man was fascinated by the pieces cascading down his front.

Rocket wiped a tear from his eye. "You sound just like the little yellow guy, Quill! 'GOOD MORNING WORLD!'" he quoted, and tossed more popcorn in his mouth.

"I did not know you were in a Terran movie." Drax stated. We all burst out laughing.

"I am Groot." he agreed.

Peter looked extremely done with everybody. "I wasn't. This is just a coincidence." he said and crossed his arms.

"Who knew you could be so jovial?" Gamora teased. Peter threw a handful of popcorn at her, and I un-paused the movie before it turned into an all-out food fight.

"Don't you even think about it." Natasha said to Rocket, whose handful of popcorn was poised to catapult right at Tony's face. Rocket wilted in defeat at being caught and glumly shoved the entire handful into his mouth.

**I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far! Love you guys!**


	7. Angry Rainbow Demon

**Here is a longer chapter to make up for the fact that I most likely won't be posting a new one anytime soon. right now my schedule is pretty free, but in two weeks my college English class starts up again and I will be bogged down by the homework. Thank you for sticking with this story, and I promise lots of action from here on out! XOXO**

* * *

Colors flashed before my eyes. Before I could even determine what the current color was, a new one would appear in its place. I was so overwhelmed. I couldn't get away from the flashes. I tried to cover my eyes, but nothing worked. Trapped in the violent swirl of colors, I began to scream. I immediately stopped when I realized that no sound was coming out of my mouth. I frantically looked around to find that I had no body. Suddenly, a piercing noise drilled into my skull and I almost-

I shot up in bed. Breathing heavily, I rubbed my face to find a cold sweat coating my forehead. "It was just a dream..." I said to my empty room as I calmed myself down. "What even was that?"

I shrieked and covered my ears. The ear-splitting noise was back with a vengeance. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I writhed around; the noise was complete torture. "MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE STOP! WHY?!"

I don't know how long it was until somebody burst through the door. "Beth! BETH!" I'm surprised that I can hear their shouts through what's going on in my head. Tears were quickly streaming down my face.

I couldn't tell who it was. I was still thrashing around, tangling myself in the covers and begging whatever was responsible to stop. "PLEASE! PLEASE STOP! AAAHHHHHHHH!"

The colors came back. I was blinded. "NOOOOO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MAKE IT STOP!"

I felt the physical force of somebody grabbing me from behind and pulling me to their chest. Strong arms held me tightly. I continued to scream and sob and struggle in their grasp, but after a while the noise in my brain quieted. My shaking hands were removed from my head. The colors faded from my vision, and I could now see my room. It was still dark. I tried to lift my head up to look around, but a giant headache pounded my skull. I relaxed back, and it subsided.

"Beth?" Thor asked in a whisper. He slowly moved from behind me to sit facing me on my bed. My brother was frightened. Even in the darkness I could make out his hunched shoulders and furrowed brows. "What happened?"

I sighed. My head was still fuzzy. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I...I'm not really sure. At first I was having a bad dream - there were colors flashing everywhere and I couldn't stop it, and then a shrill noise began blaring in my ears. I woke up then, but it began happening again a few seconds later..."

"I am deeply sorry, Beth. I believe it is wise to alert Bruce. Perhaps he can help discern what this was..."

Three minutes later I was hooked up to all kinds of machines in our infirmary. Some weird head strap with all kinds of wires was around my forehead and a blood pressure cuff was around my arm. My finger had already been pricked for a blood sample.

Bruce was messing around with all the devices and typing things on to his tablet while simultaneously asking me various medical questions. Thor was nervously wringing his hands in a chair next to me.

"Did you eat or drink anything out of the ordinary yesterday?" he asked.

I shook my head ever so slightly as to not disturb the sensors. "Nope."

"Did you take any medication you aren't supposed to, or stop taking your prescribed meds?" he asked, and fiddled with the buttons on my headband.

I scoffed. "No." I said with a flick of my hands. "C'mon, Bruce." My right leg bounced nervously. _What is wrong with me?_

He walked over to the microscope that had my blood sample under its lens. He peered at it and turned some knobs on the scope. "Could you be pregnant?" he asked without looking at me.

I slammed my fists on my thighs, and the heart rate monitor beeped rapidly. "Of course not!" I replied. Thor jumped a little at my outburst.

Bruce turned with a glint in his eye at my reaction. "Don't be offended, I just have to be thorough..."

I sighed. "You're right. Sorry. I'm just really scared. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. It was awful." I explained.

Bruce smiled empathetically. "I know." He reviewed the data on his tablet once more and shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't find anything abnormal in your system. Everything looks fine, and there aren't any lasting effects."

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding right?" I put my head in my hands. "What is wrong with me?" I glumly said through my palms.

Thor put his hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you try and get some more sleep? We can have Jarvis monitor you more closely tonight, if you would like that."

I sat up. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Bruce."

My uncle smiled. "No problem, Beth."

Thor walked me to my room. I hugged him before I stepped inside. "Thanks for rescuing me." I joked into his shirt.

He chuckled. "Anytime. Goodnight, Beth."

I smiled. "Goodnight." I walked inside my bedroom and crawled under my covers. "Hey Jarvis? Thanks for watching me."

"Of course, Miss Beth. Sleep well." the AI replied.

...

The next time I opened my eyes sunlight was streaming through my curtains.

* * *

I screamed and screamed. The flashes of color and the horrible noise were back the next night. Thor came in again and I was examined in the infirmary. Still nothing could be found. We told the rest of the family. I went to sleep and woke up the next day without any problems.

This continued for over a week. We didn't tell the Guardians.

* * *

I absentmindedly stirred my spoon in my coffee. Not that it was helping much; the incidents every night were taking a huge toll on me. Luckily, nothing new was happening as far as the locket or the fate of the universe.

"What's with the dark circles, Blondie?" Rocket asked from his seat at the table. He was munching on an apple and making adjustments to a gun. _Or was it a rocket launcher?_ I figured it was better not to ask.

What he said didn't register at first. "Huh? Sorry..." I rubbed my eyes.

"Ha. I asked why you're so tired." the raccoon replied, and threw a chunk of metal behind him.

I shrugged and tried to feign innocence. "I dunno, maybe I'm developing insomnia or something...Whacha working on?"

Rocket perked up at the mention of his weapon. "I'm increasing the firepower. More explosions, more awesome." he explained and held out his paws to show it off.

I nodded. "I see. That's cool." I replied and excused myself from the table. I found Bruce and Tony in the lab. They were talking about science-y stuff and manipulating the holograms as I walked in. My locket was still in its place.

I set down my coffee on a table. Butterfingers nodded his arm thingy in greeting. I waved. My uncles had not noticed me yet. "How tired do I look?" I suddenly asked.

They both jumped. "Jeez, Beth." Tony said. "What was the question?" he flipped the hologram away. Bruce did the same.

"I asked about how tired I looked. Because Rocket told me I had dark circles under my eyes. If Rocket of all people - er, rodents - whatever, notices them, then that means all the other Guardians surely do! And then they will start asking questions..." By this point I was pacing around and waving my arms wildly. You could say the incidents were doing a number on my stress levels.

I suddenly turned to my uncles, making them flinch again. "And what on earth am I supposed to tell them?! That I'm being possessed by the angry rainbow demon?!"

If Tony or Bruce thought my description was funny they didn't laugh. I began to cry, and Tony hugged me. "I'm so scared..." I said between breaths. "I'm not ready to fight Thanos..."

Tony stepped back, a smile on his face. "Whoa whoa whoa. What is this 'you're' not ready? In case you haven't noticed, there are eleven other crime fighters under our roof. You're not alone in this. And sure, these color vision things are scary, but you'll be fine."

"We will cross the Thanos bridge when we come to it, okay Beth?" Bruce said.

I smiled a little. My uncles were right. "Okay. Thanks guys."

* * *

The colors were back. But before I could begin screaming, I noticed something odd. _There's no noise. And, the flashes are almost beautiful this time..._I think as I slowly get out of bed. Instead of completely taking over my field of vision, the colors simply danced around the edges of my periphery.

I wasn't entirely sure why, but I felt the unexplainable urge to go down to the lab. I began gliding silently down the hallway. _My feet are freezing...you'd think I could put some slippers on before being called down a hallway..._

The colors got brighter and brighter once I stepped inside the lab. Once glance at the locket and I knew why I was here. My heart jumped when I saw it, kinda like seeing an old friend. I smiled a bit and quickly strode towards where it was being monitored.

"Miss Beth?" Jarvis suddenly asked, but I was too focused on the locket. "What are you doing here so late at night? Are you alright?" he asked.

"Perfectly fine." I replied, but I didn't have time to wonder why my voice sounded so weird. "Don't tell the others, okay?" The colors consumed more and more of my vision as I reached through the blue field around my necklace.

I ripped the locket out of its clamps and quickly pulled it over my head. A warmth spread through me and to the ground I fell, fast asleep.

"Miss Beth?" Jarvis asked, in a very distressed voice for an artificial intelligence. One check of Beth's vitals and he was assured that she was only asleep.

"I suppose it is safe not to inform the others..." Jarvis mused. He continued to monitor Beth throughout the night.

* * *

"I am going to check on Beth. She did not have another one of her episodes last night." Thor announced at the breakfast table. The Guardians were working on some minor repairs for Quill's ship. Apparently, the journey to Earth was a rough one for his Milano.

Thor silently opened Beth's door. He peered inside, expecting to find his sister fast asleep. Instead, Thor found rumpled sheets.

"Beth?!" He shouted. He ran to her bed and flung the sheets away. Thor turned and ran down the stairs.

The Avengers turned quickly at their friend's entrance to the kitchen. "Beth is gone!" He exclaimed.

Everybody gasped. "Gone?" Natasha asked.

"She was not in her bedroom!" Thor replied, running his hand through his long golden locks.

"If I may?" Jarvis interrupted. "Miss Beth asked me not to mention it...but, she is in the lab right now."

Practically colliding in the hallways and barely squeezing through the entrance, the group found Beth laying on the ground with the locket around her neck.

Clint got to her first. He held Beth's head in his hands. She didn't move. "Beth! BETH!" He shouted. Clint put his fingers on her neck. Beth's heartbeat was resting, but strong.

"She's alive!" he yelled to the others behind him. "Just sleeping. C'mon, Beth. WAKE. UP." he said while lightly shaking her.

Beth awoke with a start and Clint was promptly shocked with a spark of electricity.

He jumped back and rubbed his neck where he was hit. "Ow! What the heck?" he exclaimed.

...

I awoke to find Clint sitting next to me. And glaring at me. "Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked. I looked around, and realized that I was in the lab, not in my room. And, the locket was around my neck again. Instinctually, I grabbed it and held on. "How did I get here?"

"You tell us." Clint said. "Along with why you shocked me..."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "I...I shocked you? How did I even do that? I don't remember anything..."

"I checked on you this morning, but you were not in your room." Thor said.

"You asked me not to say anything, so your family was not aware until a few moments ago." Jarvis said.

I didn't really know what to think. Everything was so insane these days. So far, it had proven better to take things as they come, rather than to actually analyze them. "How did I shock you?" I asked Clint. "That doesn't make any sense..."

Clint shook his head. "I dunno, whenever you woke up a tendril of electricity shocked me..." Suddenly his eyes widened. "Kinda like your lightning powers..._Exactly like your lightning powers!" _

I scooted back on the floor. "No way! No. Way. That's impossible!" I said. "I haven't even thought about using them in so long! There's no way they still work!"

"You said it yourself; you haven't even tried using them in a long time. How are you supposed to know?" Steve commented.

...

I stretched my fingers out, nothing was happening. I felt like a total idiot, moving around the gym and probably looking like I was trying to do Tai Chi. And failing miserably.

"This is strange, even for me." Rocket muttered to Groot atop his shoulder.

"Is she attempting a courtship ritual?" Drax asked Tony. "Because it is not working, I can assure you..."

The billionaire burst out laughing. Wiping a tear from his eye, he gave the confused alien the shortened version of the story. "Once upon a time, Beth caught an alien virus and was dying, so Thor gave her some of his blood in hopes of curing it. It didn't work and she was pronounced dead for about forty-five minutes. Then, Beth comes back from the grave with new lightning powers. She hasn't used them in a while, but the locket has brought them out again. At least we think it has..."

Drax nodded slowly. "I see. Do her abilities work only when she dances like this? Quill enjoys dancing very much, but has never been able to produce electricity."

Tony chuckled. "She's not dancing. Although, I can see why you would think that."

I put my arms down in a huff. My face reddened as well and I turned around so they wouldn't see. "This is completely embarrassing!" I said. "Nothing is happening and I look absolutely stupid!"

"Look, Beth. You've only been trying for about a minute. I promise you don't look stupid..." Steve said to try and calm me down.

"Ya shouldn't make promises you can't keep..." Rocket whispered to Groot. The flora colossus sighed and gave the raccoon a look that said _Can you at least try and be helpful?_

I whipped back around and pointed a Rocket. "I heard that!" I angrily said, and a line of electricity shot out from my finger and hit the raccoon with enough force to knock him off Groot's shoulders.

"OW! What the heck Blondie?!" Rocket shouted. He sat up and rubbed his head. His fur stood completely on end, making him look five times fluffier than he actually was. Groot fell to the ground as well, but was laughing as hard as I thought a tree man even could. Golden tears of sap trickled down his wooden face, and he rumbled with mirth. Groot attempted to touch Rocket's newly upright fur, but Rocket swatted his hand away and dashed into the locker room.

I was in shock. While it certainly was an accident, I couldn't say that I didn't find Rocket's condition funny.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" Rocket screamed. "I LOOK LIKE A GOD-FORSAKEN TEDDY BEAR!"

Everybody burst out laughing. Clint, myself, and Peter joined Groot in laughing so hard we physically couldn't stand.

"I guess he found a mirror!" Clint said between peals of laughter.

...

I was facing the targets. Both Rocket's fur and anger had calmed down, and he was back in the gym, except he was standing alone. Groot looked a little betrayed, but I suppose Rocket was still mad at him.

I thrust my hand out, and lightning immediately shot out of my fingers and hit the first target.

"Ha!" I shouted with glee and began firing at the others. Once all the targets were sufficiently fried to a crisp, I turned around.

"I still got it..." I said with a proud puff of my chest.


	8. Lightsabers

**Sorry for the really long wait! Senior year isn't as much of a blow-off year as people might say. Thank you so much for sticking with this story! Here is a long chapter to make up for the break! Please review and tell me what you think!**

"AT LAST!" boomed through the vacuum of space. "I HAVE FOUND THE LAST STONE!"

"Congratulations, sir." came a meek voice. "You have almost conquered the universe..."

"ALMOST?!" Thanos' throne abruptly swiveled around to face the Skrull leader. His fists were angrily clenched around the chair. "Listen here, peon! The universe was mine once I retrieved the first stone. Collecting the remaining five is simply for demonstrating that I can."

The Skrull fell to the ground in terrified reverence. He didn't dare look at the Mad Titan. "Of course, Masterlord, of course! I - I don't know what came over me!" he squeaked in hopes of staying alive.

Thanos sat back, satisfied with his minion's display. "This last stone should be the easiest to collect..." he explained to the Skrull. "It is in the possession of a human girl, on Terra." He pointed to the image of Beth that was floating next to his throne.

She was walking down a street. A light breeze gently moved the hair around her face, and she smiled at a pair of joggers as they passed.

Thanos grunted in disapproval. "The foolish mortal doesn't even know what power she wears around her neck. Bring the final stone to me." he ordered, and looked back at the Skrull. It was still on the ground.

The minion sat up and nodded profusely. "Of course, sir. Right away." It stood up and opened a portal to Earth with a wave of its hand.

"One more thing, before you go." Thanos said as the Skrull began stepping into the portal.

"Yes, Masterlord?"

"Feel free to kill her. She is obviously of no importance."

* * *

"I am Groot?" he asked as he sat down on the couch next to me. I didn't comment on the fact that the couch leaned toward the flora colossus so much that I was no longer on the ground. Groot looked distressed, but I still wasn't able to understand him yet.

"I'm sorry, Groot. One moment please..." I said and placed my hand on his wooden shoulder. "Hey, Quill. What's he saying?" I asked. Peter looked up from his tablet thingie.

"He want to know if you've seen Rocket anywhere." he answered right away, with a look that said "Duh."

I stuck my tongue out at him and turned back to Groot. "I haven't...Wanna go look for him?" I suggest.

Groot nodded quickly, a barky smile on his face. He stood so fast that I crashed back down like a kid left alone on the seesaw. Quill laughed. I ignored him and followed Groot, who was walking so fast the ground shook a little. "Wait up, dude!" I called after him. "I'm not even as tall as your legs!"

Groot stopped and turned around, an apologetic look on his face. "I am Groot..." he said.

"It's okay! You're used to having Rocket sit on top of your shoulders..." I replied, figuring he was saying sorry for leaving me in the dust.

I suppose I guessed correctly, because next thing I knew he grabbed me by the armpits and hoisted me on top of his shoulders. Well, technically my torso was on top of his shoulders as he was holding me in a fireman's carry. "Ahhh!" I yelled as I slammed into his back. "Was that a splinter?" I asked myself and looked at my arm. The locket jangled around past my upside-down face, and I was momentarily worried that it would fall off. I was about to ask him to put me down, but then I realized that this was kinda fun. _Not everyone can say they've been carried by a giant tree man._

I knocked on Groot's back. "Uh, Groot? Do you know where we are going?" I asked him.

"I am Groot!" he replied quite confidently. _I guess he has an idea of where his friend might be..._

After a few minutes of opening random doors and some elevator rides, we finally made it to the attic. "Do you really think he's in here?" I asked his back.

"I AM GROOT!" he shouted, and ran inside. I slammed into his back again and took it as a yes.

"Ouch!" I cried. _That definitely was a splinter..._ Groot set me down rather abruptly and dashed over to Rocket, who was sitting in the corner with his back facing us. I followed the flora colossus as I picked the splinter out of my elbow.

Suddenly, I realized that Rocket was crying. "I...am...Groot?" he asked in a worried tone. Groot tried to put his hand on Rocket's shoulder, but the raccoon swatted him away.

"Get off me...I'm fine!" he replied in a way that showed he wasn't fine.

Groot and I stared at Rocket until he talked. The raccoon was stubborn however, and he sniffled in the silence for a minute or two before finally talking.

"The book just made me sad is all...quit judging me..." He said.

I sighed. "Groot and I weren't judging you. Groot couldn't find you and we were worried." I noticed Rocket had a book in his lap. "What are you reading?"

"It's nothing!" He shouted and held the book to his chest.

"You _literally _just told me you were reading the book." I replied a frown on my face. "Which book?"

"Horton Hears a Who..." Rocket answered. I smiled.

"I am Groot?" the tree man asked.

Rocket threw his hands up. "Whaddya mean 'Is it good?'" he replied, exasperated. "It's a stupid children's book, not classic literature!"

"It is okay to have emotions, you know..." I told the raccoon. "I cry at books and movies all the time; it's no big deal."

Rocket sighed and rubbed his paws down his face. "Now listen here, you two." he said, and pointed accusingly at Groot and I. "Don't be going 'round and telling the others that I've gone soft, ya hear me?"

We nodded vigorously. Rocket sat down in a dejected slump. "The part where Horton says 'A person's a person, no matter how small' just got to me."

Groot patted Rocket's shoulder for a moment, and Rocket didn't resist this time. I took it as a good sign.

"I wasn't born a talking raccoon. I don't even remember being a normal raccoon. All I know is that I was torn apart and put back together over and over and over...I have cybernetics inside me. I'm an experiment. I think and feel and act like a human, but I don't look like one. It's so hard sometimes, being stuck in a vermin's body..."

"Rocket." I spoke, and waited until he looked at me to continue. "You aren't vermin. Not at all, do you understand? Sure, you're different, but there's nothing wrong with that. You're an alien. A super awesome crime-fighting, galaxy-saving alien."

Rocket's ears perked up at my compliment, and he puffed out his chest. "I am super awesome, aren't I?"

Groot rolled his brown eyes. The old Rocket was back.

* * *

"Tony? Bruce?" I called while walking downstairs into the lab. "Guys? Natasha and Clint need to know what you want from the grocery store!"

My uncles were nowhere to be found. The lab was empty. So was the device that used to hold my locket, since I hadn't taken it off since I rediscovered my lightning powers. _Oh well. _I was about to turn around when something caught my eye.

"Hellooooo gorgeous..." I said to the giant set of speakers in the middle of the room. "When did you get here?" I walked up to the beautiful new sound system. The speakers were easily twice my height.

I pulled out my phone and plugged it into the audio jack. Scrolling through my playlists, I picked the perfect one. I cranked up the volume and strode out to the middle of the floor as the first notes hit my ears.

_Listen, baby. Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough, baby..._

I jammed out by myself, the 70's and 80's playlist booming in the lab. I didn't notice that Peter had joined me until he was moonwalking around me in a circle.

I laughed. "Care to join my dance party?" I had to shout.

"You kidding? Dance parties are my favorite thing! And, this happens to be my favorite era of music!" he explained.

We grooved for a while, showing each other our best moves. Pretty soon, Drax had joined, followed by Groot, Gamora, Clint, Thor, Steve, Natasha, and lastly, Rocket.

We were spinning and jumping around the lab, laughing and shouting all the while. Drax was doing the robot, Thor was doing the worm, and Gamora and Natasha were doing the cabbage patch. At some point, Clint had been hoisted onto Groot's shoulders and we accidentally broke a light in the ceiling.

Suddenly, the music stopped.

"Hey!" Everyone shouted, and we whirled around the see Bruce and Tony standing in the entrance of the lab. We were frozen. They both looked annoyed. Bruce's arms were crossed and Tony's eyebrow was menacingly raised. "What's going on here?" the billionaire asked.

"Uh, dance party?" I offered with a tentative shrug. At that moment, the broken light conveniently decided to fall from the ceiling and on top of Groot's head. He grunted in surprise and rubbed his forehead.

"Why didn't you invite us?" Bruce said, my uncles immediately began dancing around in the goofiest way possible. The music was turned on and the dance party resumed.

* * *

"How's the video feed? Any interloping aliens creeping around the Tower?" I asked Natasha as I sat down next to her on the couch. I munched on my apple as we watched the screen together. Rooms of the Tower flicked in rotation on the screen, and we sat in silence for a bit.

"Everything seems to be fine..." Natasha replied. She glanced at me. "Why are you still wearing the locket, Beth?" she asked with a sigh.

My hand with the apple fell and rested on my knee. "I feel better when I wear it, to be honest. You were there when I shocked Clint in the lab. If it helps me with my lighting powers, then I don't see the problem with wearing it all the time."

She nodded. "If you say so. Just be careful, okay? I know you don't want people worrying and coddling you about it, but Infinity Stones _do_ hold great amounts of power. If anything changes, let us know, okay?"

I smiled a little. "Of course." I took another bite of my apple.

* * *

In the middle of the cool night, a portal above the Tower opened right on the roof. A small, goblin-esque alien peered out, and then silently stepped onto the concrete. He creeped along the roof's edge before climbing down the wall. Noticing a light coming from a nearby window, he scrambled over to look inside. Sure enough, his target was standing right there, next to the sink.

...

We were watching Star Wars: A New Hope in the living room, and Rocket and Drax could not stop pointing out "inaccuracies".

"What in the heck in a light saber?!" Rocket exclaimed and threw his hands in the air.

"I have never seen one of those in my entire life." Drax replied. "It seems very inefficient. Why put an object in between your adversary and your hands?"

"Will you just shut it and watch the movie?! It's not supposed to be realistic!" Clint said, and effectively silenced the pair.

Having seen this movie plenty of times, I decided to gather everyone's dishes and wash them. The window was open, and a nice breeze was blowing inside. All of a sudden, I got this eerie feeling that somebody was watching me. I slowly looked up at the window.

Nothing.

I sighed in relief. _Why am I being so paranoid? _I dried the last dish and set it in the cabinet.

The alien reappeared in the window after shrinking back moments before. He spotted the locket as it glinted in the kitchen lights. Just about to burst through the window and slit her throat, it watched the girl turn and appear to be speaking to someone else.

The Skrull growled. _She's not alone..._it thought. _I will just have to wait a little longer._

...

Everyone said their goodnights and retreated to their rooms. I yawned and changed into my pajamas. _Another long day of waiting for Thanos..._

I crawled into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

...

The Skrull waited a few more hours before creating another portal on top of the roof. Through it, he saw the girl fast asleep. _Perfect. _He crawled through the portal and into Beth's room. After studying her appearance for a moment, he shifted into her physical form. Examining his new limbs he frowned. _So soft and fragile...but I suppose it will make her easier to kill._

The Skrull stalked over to her and reached out slowly for the necklace. He touched the locket with his green finger tips, and Beth's eyes shot open.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" she shrieked, and immediately rolled to the other side and off the bed. The Skrull lunged across the bed for her neck. Beth's self-defense training kicked in, and she tucked and rolled across the room to stand by her dresser. The Skrull whipped to face her, snarling.

"You're-you're me...How is that possible?!" Beth shouted, completely terrified by the evil twin standing before her.

Ignoring her question, the Skrull grinned evilly. But on Beth's face, it was perhaps more frightening. "Give me the locket." it commanded.

"Why?" Beth asked, her voice still shaking.

"For the Mad Titan Thanos! It matters not if you refuse. I have orders to kill you no matter what." it answered.

Beth's stomach dropped. _Thanos...it's happening..._ In a moment of instinct, she tried to bolt. The Skrull was fast, even in its human form, however, and grabbed her leg and pulled her back.

"NO!" Beth cried, and whirled around to punch the Skrull in the face. Which really, was her own.

The Skrull screeched and its head shot back. Beth used the split second to wrench her leg from its grip. She kicked the Skrull in the stomach and it fell into her bookshelf. Using the shelf for leverage, the Skrull dived at Beth's locket, which knocked the bookshelf down. Mementoes and books spilled everywhere, and Beth slipped on one when the dodged the Skrull's attack. She fell to the ground, and the Skrull picked her up by the hair. She cried out in pain and pulled herself out of its grip. She slammed the alien into her dresser with a resounding thud. Pictures dramatically fell off her walls. The alien shoved back with a vengeance, and pushed Beth all the way onto her bed. The dresser crashed to the floor behind them, clothes spewing everywhere.

The Skrull forced Beth onto her back and straddled her, effectively pinning her down. Beth tried to squirm out from under it, but the alien was strong. Thrashing around was no use.

"HELP!" Beth yelled as she tried to free herself. "HELP!"

The Skrull placed its hands on Beth's neck, and began to squeeze. Beth tried to pry its hands away, but was drifting into unconsciousness. "Help..." she rasped.

It was this moment that Rocket chose to burst through the door.

"What's it gotta take to get some peace and - WHAT THE HECK?!" he yelled at the sight of Beth strangling Beth. He quickly reached over his shoulder and grabbed his favorite gun, firing balls of electricity at the Beth who was doing the strangling. They made contact and the alien fell off the other side of the bed with an agonized cry.

"GROOT! EVERYBODY! BETH'S BEEN ATTACKED!" he shouted down the hall. Rocket scurried over to the unconscious Beth laying on the bed. He quickly looked at the one on the ground, who was thankfully knocked out. Rocket quickly shot back to the doorway when he realized that either one could be the Skrull.

The Avengers and Guardians finally arrived at Beth's now-trashed room. "I don't know which is which! I guess the Skrull finally came..." Rocket explained. Natasha walked over to the Beth laying on the bed, and then examined the Beth on the floor.

"It looks like Beth put up quite the fight..." she examined with a microscopic smile. "And you arrived just in time." she said.

"Let's bring them into the lab." Tony said. "Like Beth suggested, we need to question them."


	9. Home Field Advantage

**HEY EVERYONE! This story just get's more and more exciting! My dance team's Spring Show is the first weekend of May, so for the next month I definitely won't be able to write or post anything, sorry friends. May is super free after that, and I already knew that this story would take me into the summer anyway. Thanks for sticking around so faithfully! **

**This chapter is extra long to make up for the next month or so. Thanks for all the lovely and helpful reviews, and please send future story ideas my way! XOXOXOXOXO**

* * *

I blinked a few times as I regained consciousness. My vision slowly came into focus. _I haven't slept that well in ages..._ I looked around and saw all the lab equipment. My wrists were shackled and I was in a metal chair in a corner of the lab.

"What the heck?!" is what I tried to say, but instead, my throat was lit on fire and I coughed up a lung. I tried to stifle my coughing and looked around the room once more only to see a perfect replica of myself chained to the chair next to me. Everything came flooding back.

"AAAHHHH!" I shrieked, my throat still raw from being _freaking strangled by my evil twin._ I tried to bounce away from the other Beth in my chair and it wasn't working too well, and created quite the racket.

Everyone came walking in, but the atmosphere was weird. The air was heavy with mistrust. Their stares were calculating, as if they were trying to determine if I was the Skrull by looking at me.

"You don't have to look at me like that, you know..." I said, hoping they would realize it was me before the other Beth woke up and tried to kill me again.

"Oh, but we do." Clint said sarcastically. "How are we really supposed to know it's you?"

I glared at him. "You must have seen it choking me, right? Or do you think I pinned an alien down and suffocated it?"

"Adrenaline can cause the body to do pretty crazy things during an act of self-defense..." Tony said.

Gamora found an old coffee mug left out on a table and filled it in the sink. She then stepped in front of the other Beth and splashed her with it. It woke with a start and gave an indignant shout.

"What was that for?" it asked, and furrowed its brows. Which, I suppose were mine. At this point, my family and the Guardians had formed a line in front of us. It was intimidating, even for me.

"Kinda hard to interrogate you if you conked out..." Steve answered with his arms crossed.

The other Beth sighed. "This is ridiculous." it said with a huff. "It's me. Where's my locket?"

I was shocked at its spot-on impersonation of me. _Do I really look like that when I'm angry?_

"Your locket? It's mine! Guys - can we just get this over with? Arguing with myself is really weird..." I pleaded. Their expressions didn't change.

"You would try and say that. C'mon. You know me." the other Beth said. "Just ask me a question already!" _It sounded so much like me..._

"Alright." Natasha said. "When's your birthday?"

"July eighth, nineteen ninety-six!" we exclaimed at the same time, and then looked at each other with surprised faces. _HOW DOES IT KNOW MY BIRTHDAY?!_

Everyone looked astonished. We hadn't banked on the aliens knowing my personal information. Or being such good actors.

"What's your full name?" Bruce asked, after a moment of stunned silence.

"Elizabeth Marigold Jordan" we replied, again at the exact same time. My family groaned. _This is going to be way harder than we thought._ My palms began to sweat with anxiety.

Rocket laughed from atop Groot's shoulder. "You're middle name is Marigold? What are you, eighty?" he asked. Drax smacked him off the flora colossus with a flick of his hand.

"This is not the time to jest." he said matter-of-factly. "We must figure out who is the impostor." Rocket recovered with a rub of his backside and climbed Groot again.

My family continued asking questions about me. All kinds of personal information that only I and the government should know, and the Skrull somehow knew everything. I became increasingly worried. _What if I mess up and they think _I'm_ the alien?_

"Wait a moment!" Thor exclaimed suddenly. "We have only been asking questions whose answers are easily found on paper! You do not necessarily have to _know_ Beth to know her birth date or where she goes to school. We have not asked anything truly personal!"

Thor moved so he was standing in the middle of the other Beth and me. He kneeled down to our eye level and glanced at both of us. My heart was beating out of my chest. "What is your favorite breakfast meat?" he asked slowly.

"BACON!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I would have jumped out of my chair if I wasn't restrained.

"Sausage!" the other Beth had screamed. I sat back, relief overwhelming me. My interrogators cheered and I was immediately freed. I fell into my family's arms. I whispered a million thank-you's as we embraced, and a few tears fell from my eyes.

"NOOOO!" the Skrull howled in anger. Defeated, it shifted back into its original form. The alien looked like a goblin and had wrinkly green skin. It tried to thrash around but was prevented by the restraints.

"Group hug!" shouted Peter, and all of the Guardians - even Drax and Rocket - joined in.

* * *

We decided to leave the Skrull in our basement. We weren't exactly sure what to do with the alien and the basement provided extra security, I suppose. I was drinking tea in the kitchen to help soothe my aching throat. Being strangled into unconsciousness apparently does a number on your vocal chords.

Steve and I were at the table with Drax and Groot. Steve and I were continuing our weekly tradition of completing the crossword together. Back when I first moved in, Steve was still adjusting to the modern world and needed help with the more recent terms. Now, we just did it for fun.

"Twelve letter word for "The powerhouse of a cell." Steve read aloud. He shrugged. "We didn't have very in-depth biology classes back in the day, so this one's on you, Beth."

I chuckled. "Mitochondria." I replied without missing a beat. "That is the one thing I have learned throughout my eighteen years of public education..."

"Why would you go to school for that long to only learn one word?" Drax asked in complete seriousness. I was about to explain that I was kidding as I penciled in the word, but Groot cut in.

"I am Groot..." he said, and smiled.

Drax nodded. "I see...an 'exaggeration'..." he said while trying out the word.

The unfortunately-familiar alarms suddenly blared and Jarvis recited "CODE RED. Unauthorized landing of spacecraft on the helipad. CODE RED."

I threw the pencil up in frustration. "Are you kidding me?!" It stuck in the ceiling, and Groot examined it with awe.

Everybody met by the elevator. "Are there any of your buddies we should know about?" Clint asked Peter, frustration creeping into his question. Apprehension was making everybody on edge.

"Nope." Peter said matter-of-factly as we filed inside. "We're as in the dark as you are."

The ride was silent. I was trying to calm my nerves, and I held the locket for support. _How many beings are after the stone? _I thought, and my stomach dropped.

Weapons were readied and we exited the elevator expecting to have to defend ourselves against an invasion.

Instead, it was an eye-patched man, a woman, and her son.

* * *

"Anybody care to explain why my best team of crime fighters neglected to tell me that they have an Infinity Stone in their hands?" Fury asked, his intimidating black trench coat flapping in the wind. "Or did you think you could handle this all by yourselves?"

I didn't dare speak. There was no point in even trying when Fury was this mad. I could see the vein in his temple throbbing from twenty feet away. My eyes met Joseph's. _Why are _you_ here?_

He somehow understood and answered with a microscopic shrug. I grimaced. _This can't be good. _

"Inside. Now." Fury commanded. We all turned without a word.

* * *

We were all seated in one of the conference rooms, with Fury at the head of the table. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Joseph between being on the roof and the most awkward elevator ride in the world. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I didn't get to sit next to him either, and I was unfortunately right next to the angriest eye-patched man I had ever seen.

"Did you _really _think you could go solo and _not _have me find out about it?!" He shouted. "Do you honestly think that you could slip the uncovering of one of the greatest sources of power and destruction in the entire universe right under my nose?!"

I winced. It sounded extra bad when he put it that way, and I didn't even know that this whole failed-to-tell-the-organization-we-work-for situation had happened. I locked eyes with Natasha. She met my questioning gaze and then looked away. I was shocked. She never shied away from anything. Nor did she never tell me the truth.

_This must be more serious than I thought...I don't understand why they wouldn't tell SHIELD...and seriously, why_ _is _Joseph_ here? _I was jolted out of my thoughts by somehow even louder yelling from Nick. Nobody risked looking at Fury. Their face would probably melt.

"AND DID YOU REALLY THINK A BAND OF ALIENS COULD LAND ON YOUR ROOF AND I WOULDN'T KNOW?!" He screamed and slammed his fists on the table.

"Worst. Boss. Ever." Rocket mumbled to Groot. Everyone's faces immediately glared at the raccoon. Groot face palmed, and it clunked extra loudly in the angry silence.

The SHIELD Director turned his wrath-filled expression onto Rocket, and he shrunk smaller than I ever saw the raccoon. I understood where Fury got his name.

He turned back to my family. "Your recklessness cannot go unpunished. SHIELD has taken over all aspects of your debacle concerning the Infinity Stone, the Skrull currently residing in your basement, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Effective immediately." he announced. Groot gasped.

Fury cocked an eyebrow. "And yes, I know who you are." he addressed the other band of superheroes.

He looked at me. My lunch threatened to make an appearance. "Give me the locket, Beth."

What I was about to say took every bit of strength I had. I grabbed the locket. "No."

This time everybody gasped. Even Drax. I stood, half preparing to run if I had to, and half to try and appear more authoritative. "I trust you, Director Fury, and Agent Hill, but I don't trust SHIELD with the Stone. Not after the whole Tesseract thing. And yes, I read the files."

Fury's glare would've killed me if I hadn't looked to my family for support. They all gave me uneasy glances of "we're proud of you but also kind of scared". I knew it was the best they could do.

"I'm keeping the locket."

Fury's temple was throbbing again, and I wondered if defying him was going to cost me my life.

I held his gaze and right before I was about to melt into a puddle of regret and hand him the locket, Nick Take-Nothing-From-Nobody Fury hung his head and sighed. "You're going to give me an ulcer. You're also very fortunate, because I've decided against my better judgement to let you keep wearing the thing - on _one _condition. We take over every other part of the situation, clear? Beth - you're lucky I don't hate you." he conceded.

"Um...thanks." I squeaked, unable to move because I was so busy trying to comprehend the fact that I had just won a showdown against the most badass man I knew.

"Jarvis? I trust that the Tower has three extra rooms?" he asked of the AI.

"Yes, of course. 6th floor. Tony can show you to them, I'm sure." Jarvis squeaked as well.

Tony glared momentarily at the ceiling before plastering on a fake smile. "Right this way, Director."

* * *

I was at the stove making macaroni for tonight's dinner. I figured the cheesy goodness could help begin to smooth things over with our new guests. Er, new _new _guests. I was lost in my thoughts over this crazy day as I melted the butter. It swirled around like my emotions. Pride over standing up to Fury, confusion as to why my family wouldn't alert SHIELD about any of this, and more confusion - and I'll admit, happiness - because Joseph was staying with us.

I added the flour to make the roux. It was thickening quite nicely when somebody poked me on the shoulder and startled me out of my mental state.

"Gah!" I cried, and turned around ready smack the person with my wooden spoon when I realized it was Joseph. He jumped and put his hands up in surrender.

"Woah!" he laughed. "Didn't mean to scare you!" he apologized, and stepped to my side to inspect my cooking.

"Whacha making?" he asked, and gave my shoulders a squeeze as I continued to stir. I smiled.

"Macaroni and cheese. With extra cheese and breadcrumbs on top." I replied. "Would you grab the milk for me?"

"On it." he said and walked over to the fridge. "Are you doing okay? You seemed stressed. Well, more stressed than usual..." he asked over his shoulder.

I sighed. The punk knew me well. "Ha. If there is an adjective that means 'stressed on top of stressed', then I would be that." Joseph handed me the milk and I poured it in the roux. "There's just so many mind-blowing things going on all at once. Do you even know the entirety of what's been happening at the Tower? Oh, and not that I don't like you or something, but why _are_ you here too?" I asked.

Joseph shook his head. "I honestly don't know much of anything. Suddenly, my mom comes in my room and tells me to pack a suitcase. I thought she had gone crazy until I wheeled it into the living room and found Director Fury sitting in the recliner. All he told me was that "a matter of universal importance" required us to pay a visit to you guys. We got into a black SUV, and then were taken to the jet."

I blew air out of my nose. "I'll tell you everything, but let's finish dinner first, alright?" I said, and moved to the island to grate the cheese. We worked in silence for a while. I could tell that Joseph wished I would spill everything to him, but I didn't want to freak out on him and subsequently not have food for everyone. It had been a touchy day without everybody also being hungry.

I poured my cheese into the saucepan and stirred. Joseph added the finished sauce into the dishes of noodles. I sprinkled on the rest of the shredded cheese and bread crumbs and put the dishes in the oven. I grabbed two waters from the fridge and walked into the living room, Joseph in tow. I sat cross-legged on the couch, but stared at my knees.

Joseph sat next to me and took one of my hands. "I know that whatever has happened so far is really bothering you, but I want to know so that I can help. You weren't this quiet even at Medicorp..." he joked, and forced me to look at him with an annoyed smile on my face.

"You're just full of laughs tonight, aren't you? I guess I'll just start at the beginning." I said, and took a deep breath.

"Fury gave me some money for my birthday, so I went shopping at this flea market. I bought this mysterious locket from a mysterious lady and walked through Central Park only to be attacked by Rocket and Groot. They said they needed my locket to protect the galaxy, and I sprayed pepper spray at them and ran away. I thought I was hallucinating, so I had Bruce perform a drug test to see if the snow cone guy had put anything in my snow cone that afternoon. It turns out that my locket contains one of the six Infinity Stones. They're tiny stones with great power and abilities - the Tesseract was one of them."

Joseph was staring at me with full attention. He nodded for me to continue and squeezed my hand. I told him everything that had happened so far, from meeting the Guardians to now.

"My family finds me passed out and I accidentally shock Clint with my reawakened lightning powers. Then, a shapeshifting alien called a Skrull broke into the Tower and transformed into me to try and kill me and take the Stone for Thanos. I was able to fight him off until he tried to choke me to death. Luckily Rocket shot him with his taser-gun-thingy and we were both unconscious. We were shackled to chairs in the lab. After being interrogated next to my evil twin, we finally figured out that I was me...That's everything." I finally finish.

Joseph's eyes were wide. He fell back into the couch, completely bewildered. I let him process everything for a bit. Suddenly, he shot up and pulled me into a tight hug. "You were almost killed..." he whispered disbelievingly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there..."

I smiled and squeezed Joseph back and pulled away, but I left my hands on his shoulders. Joseph was avoiding my eyes, guilt on his face. "Hey. Don't feel bad. You're here now. Besides, I gave the Skrull a run for its money. My room is currently trashed because I kicked it into my bookshelf and shoved it into my dresser. I'm pretty tough."

I was rewarded with a small smile from my boyfriend. He put his arm around me and we leaned back into the couch. "I just can't imagine how scary all this has been." he shook his head. "This stuff is wild..."

I nodded and we sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I swallowed. "I'm terrified. Completely and utterly terrified, Joseph. Sometimes I'm worried that this is all too much and I'm not going to be strong enough and that because of me Thanos is going to destroy the universe!" I let out in one breath, tears filling my eyes. "Why did I have to find the locket? Why _me_?" I asked him, and my already-rough voice cracked.

Joseph squeezed my shoulders again. "Hey." he said, warmth in his voice. "Look at me." I met his kind, blue gaze. "I'm terrified too. But, if I know you at all, I know that you won't stop fighting no matter what. And that you always do what's right. Like you said, you're pretty tough." I smiled.

"Remember how strong you were when we were stuck in those cells?" he went on. "You were strong even when I thought about giving up hope or just crying in a corner desperate to be found. I have always admired that about you, Beth. If anyone was to find the locket, you are the best one to keep it safe."

I pecked him on the mouth and rested my head on his shoulder. "Aren't you quite the charmer?" I joked. My expression darkened after a certain thought popped into my head.

"Why do you think my family didn't tell SHIELD that I found a Stone? And why they didn't tell _me _that it was a secret? Why would they hide that from me?"

Joseph shrugged, and my head shifted slightly. "I really can't say. However, the Avengers are good people and care about you a lot, so I'm sure they had a good reason. Or, maybe they just forgot..." he suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." I agreed, but the nagging feeling in my gut didn't go away. I decided to ignore it. "I'm really glad you're gonna be around, Joseph. Besides, the Tower is really fun. Lots of cool things to do, like the training room, game floor, movie theatre, and other stuff."

Joseph chuckled. "I will destroy you at ping-pong." he challenged.

I elbowed him, and he groaned in mock pain. "Doubt it. I've been the Tower ping-pong champion five months in a row!" I gloated.

Just then, the timer rang for the macaroni. "Dinner time!" I said, and jumped from the couch, my worries momentarily forgotten.

* * *

Dinner was as awkward as I thought it was going to be. The scrapes of spoons in the bowls was all that was heard. For some reason, my family was avoiding eye contact with me. It was really unnerving. I felt responsible for the awkwardness, even though none of this was actually my fault. I stood up.

Expectant eyes looked to me. Maybe they thought something else was going to go down. I didn't meet Fury's eyes. "Can I take anybody's dishes to the sink?" I asked the group, but my voice sounded weird.

Various "yes, please" and "sure, thanks" filled the void of sound as I gathered the dirty bowls.

"Here, I'll help." Steve offered and gathered the rest. He followed me to the sink as I began to rinse them. Everybody else just kind of trailed away to their respective rooms. I smiled at Joseph right before he left.

My brother and I worked in silence for a while, rinsing and scrubbing and drying in perfect rhythm. When I first moved in so long ago, I had wondered why the state-of-the-art Tower didn't have a dishwasher. At the time, I thought the explanation that dishwashing was a good "team bonding experience" was strange, but over time I understood. I normally enjoyed doing the dishes with members of my family, but now it felt wrong. In the silence, the thought I had been trying to suppress all day was screaming in my mind.

I set the bowl I was currently scrubbing in the sink and closed my eyes, half-afraid of the answer I would receive. Steve stopped working as well. I still couldn't talk.

"Everything okay?" He asked me, worry filling his voice. I was sure I would crumble if I looked him in the eye. How could he act so concerned when _he _was the one hiding something? My hurt, anger, confusion, and worry were so close to the surface that I resolved to stare at the bubbles. I took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell Fury, and why did you hide it from me?" I slowly asked, my voice low and hollow.

I dared to look at Steve's face, and his features were carved into a guilty expression. I stared at him for a moment, and I saw him wrestling with telling me the truth in his eyes, which were fixed on the bottle of soap.

"Why won't you tell me?" I whispered, and a lump formed in my throat. I tried to suppress it, but to no avail. "Why won't anybody look at me?"

Steve swallowed and finally met my eyes at my last question. He looked pained because of what he was about to tell me. "We saw how the Stone was affecting you." he answered, his voice so quiet I could barely hear him. I furrowed my brows.

"Those blinding colors and noises every night, how we found you curled around it asleep in the lab and subsequently regained your lightning powers," he continued. "Natasha told us what you said to her. About how you feel better when you wear it?"

The tears slid down my face. "So?" I asked, my voice cracking again. "It's just a locket, and I bought it with my own money..." I childishly countered, but in my gut, I knew he was right. I just didn't want to admit that something was wrong.

"And how you are constantly holding it like a lifeline?" Steve added, and glanced pointedly at my neck. I looked down and saw my left hand clutching the locket. I gasped and pulled my hand away like it had been burned. I hadn't even noticed. _How long...?_ I grabbed the edge of the counter for support.

"What is wrong with me?" I breathed, and tears fell into the sink. Steve put his hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing. The Infinity Stones are immensely powerful. Their effects on people are uncontrollable and mostly unknown. We didn't want SHIELD to swoop in and take everything because we weren't sure what the Stone was doing to you...We weren't sure if that would make things worse..." he said.

"Does that even matter? Like you said, it gave me back my powers which I can use to fight Thanos. That's a good thing." I said, but I still looked the other way.

"We're not even sure about which Stone it is! Who knows what it's altering in you? You promised you would tell Natasha if anything changed, but you didn't! We are just trying to protect you..." he explained. His last words struck a nerve.

I whipped to look at him. My eyes were squinting in anger. Steve flinched. "I can't believe you guys!" I exclaimed. "How many times do y'all need to 'protect me'?! The Stone's obviously not mutating me or anything! I'm doing fine!"

Steve was mad now. His nostrils flared as he breathed heavily. "How immature are you? Protecting each other is what this family does! What's so bad about having us help? Why do you feel like you have to do this alone?!"

"_Because I started this whole mess!_" I screamed, and stomped my foot and flung my arms around, enraged. My dirty secret was finally revealed. The anxiety I had since the first night of flashes was out in the open.

"If I hadn't bought the stupid locket, the entire freaking universe wouldn't be in danger! Nobody would know where the Stone was, and I wouldn't be the cause of mass destruction and the annihilation of the human race!"

I stood there, face red and eyes burning, but Steve didn't yell again. His hunched shoulders lowered, and his face softened into one of pity. "Beth..." he said softly.

I swallowed the angry lump in my throat. "Don't." I said. "Don't feel sorry for me...I know how completely disappointed everyone is..." My eyes closed to try and avoid my shame.

Next thing I knew, Steve enveloped me in a crushing hug. "We. Are. Not. Disappointed." he told me, emphasizing every word. "Understand? We could never be disappointed in you..."

I nodded, finally feeling real relief for the first time in months. "I can tell something's changed, you know. I feel it inside of me, like in my soul. I'm different. I was just so afraid to tell you guys, and I felt so horrible about everything. We already had other things to worry about besides me." I said into his shirt. "I'm sorry."

Steve pulled back and looked into my eyes. Blue met blue, and he smiled. I let out a shaky breath.

"Don't be. No matter what, we are in this together. The Avengers saved the world once, we can do it again." he said with a wink. I chuckled.

"Just make sure you're honest with us from now on, okay?" he asked of me.

I nodded, and reached for the locket. I pulled it over my head and set it on the counter. "Will you give this to Fury for me? I know I wasn't in a good place when I told him I would keep it. It's been messing with me for far too long."

* * *

"Look. All I'm saying is that Beth had a home field advantage." Joseph tried to argue as he followed Thor into the kitchen for breakfast. Thor shook his head and laughed. It was quite a funny sight, watching my giant brother in his plaid pajamas argue with my boyfriend who was actually only a few inches shorter.

"All that I am saying is that Beth defeated you with her cunning and athleticism..." Thor responded, and shrugged exaggeratedly.

I smiled as I overheard this from the coffee pot. I finished stirring in some creamer and set down my spoon. "Way to set him straight, Thor." I said as I turned and put my mug to my lips.

He winked. "Anything for my Lady Beth." he said using an old nickname and sat down at the table. Steve had told the Avengers what had happened last night, and I had told Joseph. It was freeing to have everybody on the same page. They sat down at our huge table. Clint helped me bring out the food. The Avengers and I decided that we would serve everything family style since we now had eight more people to feed. I set down plates of warm corn and flour tortillas and bowls of shredded cheese. Clint had the scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage.

We all laughed and talked as we made breakfast tacos. The awkwardness of last night must have been slept off. I sat in between Tony and Joseph. They somehow had concocted a plan and were working together, because every time I would look at one the other would steal food off my plate.

"Cut it out!" I jokingly exclaimed, and elbowed them both in the ribs.

"Ah! I think you broke something!" Tony said and rubbed his side. I rolled my eyes and sipped my coffee.

"Violence is never the answer..." Joseph chastised with a shake of his head.

"Behave, children." Natasha commanded from across the table with an amused raise of her perfect eyebrows.

Fury cleared his throat. "Before certain members of the team descend into more immaturity, I wish to remind you all that I am overseeing the interrogation of the Skrull this morning at ten. We are taking it back to headquarters and detaining the alien in our interrogation room. You may watch, but not intervene under any circumstances, clear?"

"Crystal..." I mumbled into my mug of coffee.

* * *

"I'm not sure if you know this, but attempting to kill somebody is illegal here on Earth." Fury said, keeping eye contact with the Skrull. He was sitting across the table from the alien, who was currently shackled and glaring angrily at the SHIELD Director.

We were all watching through the mirrored window. I was holding Joseph's hand. Looking at the creepy alien who tried to kill me was difficult. And the worst part was that it was so smug about it. It was proud. I found it hard to breathe.

"Look. We know why you're here. Beth found the last Infinity Stone and your buddy Thanos wants it to take over the world. Why? Is it just another one of those 'take over the universe power-trips'"? he asked, completely blasé. I was very impressed with Fury's interrogation skills. I definitely would have crumbled under the pressure by now.

"You don't want to talk. I get it. Thanos would torture and kill you, am I right? In an extremely slow and brutal way?" the director asked. I noticed a flash of fear in the Skrull's eyes at the mention of torture, but then it tried to cover it up by looking away. Fury wasn't fooled.

He slowly inched closer to the alien's face and kept eye contact all the while. "And to be quite honest Skrull, I'm not afraid to either." Fury turned away and left the room. He nodded at the group before walking away. Maria followed, as did everyone else.

"You okay?" Joseph asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be right behind you." I said with a half-smile. Joseph smiled back and then left me alone with my thoughts. I stared at the alien through the glass. It wasn't moving, and didn't seem to be focusing on anything either. I remained motionless for a few minutes.

Before I really know what I was doing, I walked into the interrogation room, and sat across from the Skrull. It was startled at my entrance. I stared at the alien's green and gnarled face. It looked back. I saw the reflection of my expressionless face in its beady eyes.

_Screw "not intervening under any circumstances"..._I thought.

...

The Avengers, Guardians, and Joseph were sitting in one of the SHIELD lounges near the interrogation room. It had a few couches, chairs, and coffee tables. A few of the group had a cup of coffee in their hands and were stirring it absentmindedly.

"Do you think Director Fury will ever get anything from the Skrull?" Peter asked, and took a sip from his coffee.

"I really can't say." Bruce replied. "Director Fury is as good as they come, but the Skrull is an alien working under Thanos. They think very 'Point A to Point B'. So, he might not tell us anything because it isn't a part of his objective, you see what I'm saying?"

Peter nodded and slumped back into the cushion with a sigh. "Hey, where's Beth?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, she told me she would be in here in a moment..." Joseph answered.

"Uh, guys? I know where Beth is..."Clint said and pointed to a monitor in the top corner of the room. The group looked to see Beth sitting across from the Skrull.

"Ah, crap!" Tony exclaimed and they scrambled back to the interrogation room, worried that Beth would do something rash like try to hurt the alien or something. After skidding to a stop in front of the mirror, Steve almost opened the door when Gamora broke in.

"Wait!" she commanded. "Let's see what Beth does. I have a feeling she will surprise us."

Steve slowly pulled his hand back. "I hope you're right, Gamora." he said.

"She always is." Drax said, and Gamora smiled.

...

I couldn't think of anything to say to the alien who tried to kill me. Nothing was coming to mind. The Skrull must have sensed my uncertainty because it sneered, and then I snapped.

"Why did you try to kill me?" I asked slowly, and was surprised that I didn't scream or anything.

The alien shrugged. "Orders are orders, human. And besides, your race is so fleshy and soft it wouldn't even be difficult." It said, and clicked its claws on the metal chair. My blood boiled. I stood and knocked the Skrull onto its back, and grabbed it by its collar. I held down the chair with my foot.

The Skrull was bewildered, to say the least. I got close to its face. "I'm tougher than I look. Remember our little fight?" I said in my most threatening voice. I was tired of letting all this weird alien crap control my life. "You know how strong I am. I'm not afraid of you. Or Thanos. When he comes, we will be ready."

The Skrull scoffed, and his bravado returned. "Thanos is more powerful than any being in the universe. And with all _six_ Infinity Stones, he will be unstoppable! Your meager band of humans is no match for the Mad Titan!"

I rolled my eyes. I had enough of his ramblings about power. "You know what? I don't really care what Fury does to you. Eye for an eye?" I asked the Skrull with a tilt of my head.

I pulled the alien back upright by its neck.

...

"You were right..." Steve said, with an impressed nod at Beth.


	10. Better Out Than In

**HELLO! I know it has been a very long time! My Spring Show is over, so I now have free time! Here is a long chapter to make up for my absence. Don't worry, next chapter the BATTLE BEGINS! I'm very excited! Please send me your ideas! XOXO**

* * *

"E-excuse me, Your Majesty?" a Skrull addressed the leader atop shaking knees. He kept his face down, but could sense the turn of Thanos' throne to face him.

"What is it?!" Thanos barked at the frightened alien. It flinched, and the warlord smiled a bit to himself.

"It...it is with utmost shame and regret...that I inform you of-of the capture-"

"CAPTURED?!" Thanos bellowed and pounded his meaty fist on his throne, shaking some rocks at the Skrull's feet.

The small alien flattened himself on the ground in front of his tyrant, and he scrunched his eyes shut.

"Congratulations." Thanos said in an eerily calm voice. "Stand up."

No sooner had the words left Thanos' mouth and the Skrull was standing, albeit trembling a bit.

"You have just been promoted. Your superior was unable to complete his task, so you now are commander of the Skrull Army. Effective immediately."

* * *

We were sitting in a SHIELD lounge. Drax was on my left, and the rest of the group was scattered throughout the room. We weren't really sure of what to do next. "So, are we just going to wait until Thanos and the Skrulls come raining down on Earth? That doesn't sound like a good plan..." I half-joked, half-was being completely serious.

Tony spoke up. "I can create a detection system with the satellites orbiting Earth. We can know of any alien presence planets before ours..." he suggested.

"We have tracking algorithms already programmed for the Infinity Stones on the Milano. You can use those too if you want." Peter offered.

"Good idea." Bruce replied. "We will need all the help we can get."

We all sat in silence for a moment, and the white noise of the SHIELD headquarters filled the room. The underlying fact that we didn't really have a true plan was bubbling up to the surface. I shifted in my seat. "What are we going to do with the Skrull?"

Suddenly, Fury burst through the door, his trench coat flapping. "Come with me. Now." he commanded, and we jumped up and followed without a word.

* * *

"One of the agents found him like that. Saves me some time, I suppose. Thought you all should know." Fury explained, and turned on his heel and left. My mouth hung open in shock. Joseph's too.

The Skrull was hanging from the ceiling by what it appeared to be its arteries. It was as if they shot out of the back of its body and attached to the tiles above. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little sick. The only thing that moved were the drops of dark green ooze that dripped down onto the table.

Thor coughed. "Suicide must have been better than Thanos' punishment..."

"Let's go home." Steve said. "There's nothing left for us here anymore."

The group shuffled out of the interrogation chamber. In the hallway, I reached for Joseph's hand, and he squeezed it in reassurance. As we boarded the quinjet, I wiped away a tear before anyone saw.

* * *

_...Your fault...your fault...all your fault..._

_...Beth...all your fault...Beth..._

..._Dead...because of you...all your fault...Beth..._

"No! NOOOOOO!" I screamed, and sat upright in bed. I angrily rubbed my face. "Not again..." I mumbled. "I thought the nightmares were over..."

I snapped my head up at a tentative knock on my door. "C-come in." I coughed, and ran my fingers through my hair.

It was my moppy-headed uncle. "Hey." he breathed. "May I sit?" he asked and gestured at my bed.

I smiled. "Only because you asked nicely." I replied. "Did I wake you?" I asked, concern furrowing my brows.

Bruce shook his head and smiled. "Nope. I was heading to bed after finalizing some of the programming with Tony for the satellites. Is the nightmare back?" he inquired, and squeezed my shoulders in a quick hug.

I shook my head. "Not the colorful one, no. The thing with the Skrull today really freaked me out, I guess..." I explained.

Bruce nodded with a frown. "Yeah. It was gruesome. I have seen my fair share of destruction, but that was really something else...It's okay to be disturbed by something like that Beth - we all were."

I sighed, and stared at my wall. I couldn't look at Bruce with what I was about to say. "I wasn't so much disturbed by the Skrull...but by me..."

Bruce cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" he prompted.

I took a shaky breath and felt a tear glide down my cheek. "I felt guilty about the Skrull committing suicide. How sick is that? This thing tried to choke me to death so it could help destroy the universe, and I felt bad because it killed itself...I'm so disgusted..."

Bruce grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly, so I looked at him. His kind brown eyes met my red-rimmed ones. "You are full of so much compassion, it astounds me. The whole team wonders how you've managed to remain idealistic after all you have been through. What you are feeling is important because it means you still care. We need that going into this fight. We wouldn't survive if you lost your humanity, Beth."

I smiled at his words. "Thanks. I just feel so conflicted, you know? This whole experience is quite emotionally draining..." I joked.

Bruce chuckled. "No kidding." He stood up and headed for my door. "Get some sleep, Beth. Goodnight."

I smiled and laid down. "'Night." I replied as I nestled under the covers.

* * *

"It's safe to assume that Thanos will be unleashing the entirety of the Skrull army upon Earth, so we need to focus on getting civilians to safety. Luckily, we have learned from the Battle of New York and have a better course of action..." Fury said. "We have three Helicarriers that have 12 fully mobile lifeboats on them, as well as 40 others. It may not seem like much, but it is a start."

Everybody nodded. Seated around the Tower's conference room table, everybody had a tablet and was listening to Fury's battle instructions. "Thor, Stark, Rogers, Groot, Drax, and Banner will defend Romanoff, Barton, Gamora, Rocket, Quill, Beth and Joseph as they fill the lifeboats. Once evacuation is complete, we will focus on actively destroying the Skrulls."

My eyes widened momentarily at the mention of Joseph's name. _I didn't realize he would be a part of the battle..._

"This plan is most excellent..." Drax commented at the mention of destroying something. My lips quirked into a smile and Gamora chuckled.

"Thanos may or may not drop down immediately to begin his plan, so we will need to be ready for anything. For Thanos, it is shoot first, and then shoot again until you know he is dead and the Stones are in our hands. Clear?" he confirmed.

"Clear." everyone replied. The Director turned to me, and I gulped. Our relationship seemed okay since I talked back to him and kept the locket, but you never knew with Fury. "Beth. I want you to wear the Stone. Keep in mind that it will make you more of a target, but it enhances your lightning powers, and we will need all the help we can get."

I nodded, fear and excitement filling my belly at the prospect of finally using my locket. "Yes sir." I replied. Fury put his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Now, all we do is wait. You are dismissed."

I rearranged a few things on the tablet in front of me, and then got up from the table. Everybody was heading down to the kitchen for lunch. A thought popped into my head, and my stomach dropped. _Oh no..._

I closed my eyes and sighed. "What's wrong?" Joseph asked, and I jumped at his voice. I tried to plaster a convincing smile on my face. "Oh, nothing." I said, and then changed the subject. "I'm starving, I wonder what we're having for lunch?" I asked.

I guess my expression fooled Joseph. "I think I heard Clint say something about sandwiches..." he answered, and a twinge of guilt filled my stomach as we followed everyone down to the elevator.

...

"Hey! Save me some ham!" Quill called. Everybody was surrounding the sandwich fixings like a pack of hyenas. I was shoved in between Thor and Drax, which gave new meaning to the term "between a rock and a hard place".

"Only if you save me the spicy mustard!" I replied, and grabbed some ham for my friend. After clawing my way out of the mob, we traded and I went and sat down at the table. Thor was across from me, and Groot was on my left. Thor smiled at me around his mouthful of sandwich. I squeezed Groot's wooden shoulder as I sat down, and he patted the top of my head, albeit a little clumsily. Thor chuckled at my slightly disheveled hair. I carefully spread the mustard on my bread so that it reached the edges of the slice.

"Why so thorough with the mustard, Blondie?" Rocket asked as he jumped on the seat next to me, holding a sandwich in his paws.

I shrugged. "It tastes better when you have mustard in every bite, I guess."

"Pfft. That takes too long. Like I always say, better out than in!" the raccoon exclaimed, and shoved almost his whole sandwich in his mouth.

"I am Groot..." the flora colossus said, and gestured with one barky hand. The other was in another bucket of water.

"Whaddya mean I've never said that?!" Rocket said indignantly. "What do you know, you can only say I, am, and Groot!" he insulted, and shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth as he leaped off his chair and scampered away.

Groot smiled and Thor and I laughed.

Joseph walked over and took Rocket's place. "This seat taken?" he joked.

I smiled. "By you, my friend." I replied.

After a while the rest of the group joined us at the table. It was nice to talk and laugh with everyone, since it distracted us from the impending task ahead. At some point, Peter and Tony started flicking chips at everyone until both Gamora and Natasha caught one in their mouths and shot the boys a look. Everybody gradually left until it was just me and Joseph.

We ate in companionable silence for a while. With all the craziness of late, we hadn't been able to spend time alone together. It was refreshing.

"Can I ask you something?" Joseph suddenly asked. "It's kinda weird..."

"Shoot." I replied, confusion filling my face. _Why doesn't he just ask?_

He cleared his throat. "Uh...I was wondering..." he averted his eyes. I couldn't help but smile at him. "I was wondering if you could show me your lightning powers? I haven't seen them yet, and they sound pretty awesome..."

I laughed. Joseph glared at me, which made me laugh even harder. "Haha! Oh course, knucklehead! Why were you so concerned about asking me?"

He sighed exaggeratedly. "Because that's not a normal question to ask your girlfriend!" he exclaimed as he gesticulated wildly. His voice went a little higher at the end, and I laughed harder still, a tear streaming down my face.

"I don't have to deal with this!" he declared, and made a dramatic show of getting up from the table and throwing away his trash. He smiled and cheekily waved at me before dashing out of the room.

I reached for him. "Noooo! Come back! I'm sooorrryyyyyy!" I called after my boyfriend as I followed him out of the kitchen. I expected him to be waiting for me, but he was nowhere to be found.

I crossed my arms. "Where the heck did he go?" I asked the empty hallway. Silently padding down into the living room, I spotted a tuft of brown hair poking out from behind the armchair. I smiled. _Well, well, well..._

I bent down, and then jumped onto the chair. "GOTCHA!" I yelled.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Joseph screamed, and fell backwards onto the floor.

I laughed so hard I fell off of the chair and landed next to him, clutching my stomach.

He sat up. "That wasn't very nice...how did you find me?"

"I live with Clint and Thor...it only took me a couple times of them scaring me before I knew what was coming." I explained.

"You're crazy." he said, and held out a hand and pulled me off the ground. I giggled and squeezed him around the middle.

"You don't seem to mind..." I teased. "C'mon, let's go to the training room." I said, and tugged Joseph in the right direction.

* * *

We stepped inside the huge facility. The cool air conditioning hit me, and I breathed in the familiar scent of dust and sweat.

"This is amazing!" Joseph exclaimed as he looked at all our equipment. "You actually train here?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Yep. I practice sparring, as well as use Clint's bow and Steve's shield. And, my fancy lightning powers...Stand over there so you'll be out of range." I instructed, and pointed to the wall a safe distance from the targets. I stepped in front of them.

Taking a centering inhale, I planted my feet. Joseph waited expectantly. I thrust my hands forward and sent a stream of electricity at the center target. It hit the bulls eye and I quickly fired at the three others before turning to turning to an astonished Joseph.

I bowed, and made Joseph break from his stupor by making him laugh. "That was pretty cool." he complimented.

"Thanks." I replied.

Joseph's shoulders sank and he frowned. I walked over to him. "What's wrong?" I asked, and put my hands on his shoulders.

He sighed. "I wish I was useful. We're going to be battling it out any day now, and I won't be able to help."

"Oh, c'mon. You'll be helping with evacuating citizens! That's extremely important, Joseph." I told him. We walked over and sat on a bench.

I squeezed his hand. "Hey." I said quietly. "I thought the same thing a while ago. Remember when that crane fell into that office building last year? The Avengers were called to action, and I was in charge of civilian evac and first aid. At first, I thought what you're thinking, that I wasn't useful. But then I saved a boy named Liam. He was trapped under some rocks. I heard his screams from the rubble, and I had Steve pull the rocks away until I could help Liam climb out. I checked him for major injuries and then sent him to the medic tent." I recanted. I chuckled. "Hehe. I remember he was so amazed that I was "Captain America's sister"... I wasn't useless to Liam. Understand?" I asked, and looked into Joseph's eyes.

He nodded after a few moments with the tiniest of smiles. "Yeah. Thanks, Beth." he said, and put his arm around me and kissed my hair.

I smiled softly. "You know, it's probably for the best..." I began.

He pulled his head back to look at me. "What's for the best?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"That you won't be in the middle of the firefight. I wouldn't want you to get hurt..." I said, and squeezed his hand again.

Joseph stood and stepped away from the bench. His back was toward me, and I noticed his hunched shoulders and clenched fists. Joseph mumbled something unintelligible.

I sat up. "What?" I asked, nervous about why he got up.

Joseph turned to me slowly. His eyes were angry. I shrunk. _He's never been mad like that at me before... _"I said, I can take care of myself." he spoke, his words clipped.

I stuttered. "I...I never - I never said you couldn't...I just meant-"

"Meant what?" he interrupted. "That I shouldn't be more involved because I'm not strong enough? Sorry I don't have super powers, Beth!" he spat my name, and I flinched. I slowly stood up and put my hands in my pockets.

"That's nothing to be sorry for..." I retaliated. "What's your problem? Why are you so upset?"

"My problem is YOU!" he shouted, and angrily pointed at me. "You apparently don't think I can handle myself when the battle comes! That I will be shot or stabbed or God knows what else the second I try and do more that herd people on a lifeboat! Fury thinks I can do it, why can't you?!" he continued, getting angrier by the second. He had walked up until he was towering over me.

I glared at him. "Don't point at me like that." I said coldly. "I never said you couldn't handle anything. I just want you to be safe, and oh - I don't know - _freaking survive this mess!_ I wouldn't want anybody fighting out there in unnecessary danger, okay?! _Grow up!_" I began to yell, getting more sarcastic.

"_Why don't you think I'm good enough?!_" he exploded, and I had to step back.

I put my hands up, trying to surrender. _This isn't where I meant this conversation to go at all..._ "Joseph, please..." Tears filled my eyes.

He waved his hand at me and paced around. "Please what? Gain superpowers so you won't think I'm worthless? Or unimportant? Well guess what? You're not special either, Beth! Just because you're the Avenger's tag-along doesn't make you better than me!"

I shook my head slowly, and felt tears fall down my face at the movement. "You know that's not what I meant - you know that Joseph." I pleaded, my voice breaking.

He hung his head for a moment before looking up at me. I could see tears in his eyes as well. "Look, I get it, Beth. I'm not as impressive as a god, a spy, or aliens..." he said, and his voice was filled with so much hurt. He walked back up to me from where he had been angrily pacing moments before. The air was thick with sadness.

"When did you become so superficial?" he whispered with trembling lips.

I recoiled as if slapped, and Joseph walked away and slammed the gym door without another word.

**Please review and send me your ideas!**


	11. The Battle Begins

**HELLO! I'm so sorry for not posting in a while, I had killer writer's block. Here is the next chapter!**

**XOXOXO**

* * *

The gentle breeze helped to dry my tears and cool my puffy face. I was hiding on the "secret" balcony I found awhile back. Sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall, I tried to collect my thoughts. _That definitely didn't go well..._

I wiped my eyes. I didn't even know how long I had been sitting here. _20 minutes? 3 hours? _Looking at the clouds, I wondered how much crying a person could do in a short period of time before they dried up like a raisin. _God, I need your help...I have no idea what I'm doing. With myself, with Joseph, with Thanos...Please put us in Your hands..._

I closed my eyes, weary from the fight. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Drifting off to sleep, I felt the warm sun on my face.

...

Steve strode into the lab. There were papers and old coffee mugs strewn about as usual. The two scientists were hunched over their holograms and were babbling about whatever scientific endeavor they were currently working on.

"Have you seen Beth anywhere?" Steve asked, leaning against a table. Butterfingers wheeled over, and Steve shook its outstretched robot hand.

Tony and Bruce turned away from their screens. Bruce shook his head. "I haven't seen her anywhere..." he said.

Steve grimaced. "Strange. I've been looking for her everywhere. The Guardians wanted to learn more about Earth, so I told them I would find Beth."

Tony chuckled. "They didn't want a 90-year-old teaching them about pop culture? Can't say I blame them..." he said while twirling a wrench in his hands.

Steve laughed. "Yeah. Me neither. Just let me know when you find her, okay?"

"Will do, Cap." Tony replied, and he and Bruce turned back to their work. _Hmmm...Maybe she's in my studio? _He thought, and got on the elevator.

Steve peered into his studio, but Beth was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in the infirmary, her bedroom, or anybody else's. Beth also wasn't back in the kitchen or living room.

_Where could she be?_ The super soldier asked himself as he crossed his arms. "The gym!" he exclaimed aloud. "I can't believe I forgot." Steve got back onto the elevator. It descended for a moment, and then stopped only a few floors later. The doors opened to reveal Thor and he stepped inside.

"Hello, Steve! Where are you off to?" he asked.

"The gym." Steve replied as he pressed the button. "I've been looking for Beth, and it's the one place I haven't checked. Care to join me?"

Thor nodded. "Aye. Come to think of it, I have not seen our sister since lunch time, and that was hours ago..."

The elevator pinged, and the pair of super heroes exited and then opened the doors to the gym. Stepping inside, they spotted somebody behind a punching bag, currently beating the living daylights out of it.

Thor noticed the brown hair instead of blonde, and the fact that the mystery person's punches were making contact much higher on the bag than Beth could reach. "Joseph?" he tentatively asked, not wanted to startle him.

Joseph stood still, and held the bag to stop its shaking. "What's up?" he replied, popping his head out from behind the bag. Thor and Steve walked over to the boy. His posture was rigid, and he kept on unclenching and clenching his fists.

"Have you seen Beth?" Steve asked.

"Nope." Joseph replied, and turned and began punching the bag again without another word.

Steve and Thor glanced at each other. "What is troubling you?" Thor asked.

"Nothing, Thor. I'm good." he answered without taking his eyes off the bag, and in a way that meant that everything wasn't good.

"Did you and Beth quarrel?" The god pressed. Joseph stopped punching and leaned his sweaty forehead against the bag.

"Are you going to beat me up if I say yes?" he asked, a tone of apprehension in his voice.

Steve blew air out of his nose with a small laugh. "Nope."

"Anyway, your relationship is not ours to meddle in. But if you ever need advice, feel free to ask." Thor said.

Joseph nodded. "Thanks, but I think I'm good for now...I'm gonna keep training." he replied, but both Thor and Steve saw the conflict in his eyes. Joseph turned back to the punching bag.

The pair of super heroes turned away and began walking to the door. "Hey! Wait!" they heard.

"I actually could use some help..." Joseph said, wringing his hands.

Thor and Steve smiled. "Why don't we have a seat?" Steve suggested, and the trio walked over to the chairs surrounding the boxing ring.

Joseph ran his hands through his sweaty hair. "We had a pretty bad fight. Like, we haven't ever really fought before..." he began, and hung his head. "I got in her face..." he confessed. "I've never done that until now, and it was so wrong of me..."

Thor clapped Joseph on the back in his signature way. "It will be alright, Joseph. Just tell us what happened."

He sat up straight. "She just made me so angry!" he exclaimed and threw his hands in the air. "Beth can so freaking stubborn sometimes, it's ridiculous!" he said.

Both Steve and Thor had to laugh at that one. "Believe, me, we know..." Steve said.

Joseph sighed. "We were in here earlier and she was showing me her lightning powers. We got into a fight when I told her that I wished I could do more than help people to safety, and she said how she thought that was for the best because she 'didn't want me getting hurt"." he explained.

"I was mad because she made me feel like I couldn't do anything to help fight alongside you guys. She told me that she just wanted me to be safe, but it felt like she was calling me a child. I screamed "Why don't you think I'm good enough?" at her." Joseph paused for a moment and swallowed. "I made her cry. The last thing I said to her was "When did you become so superficial?" he shook his head slowly. "I really messed up..."

"Yeah, you did. But, if there's one thing I know about Beth, it's that she is a really forgiving person. I bet you she's off somewhere feeling bad about the fight too." Steve said.

"It doesn't matter. I shouldn't have done that - not with all she's been going through lately..." Joseph said.

"In case you have not noticed, Beth is extremely tough." Thor mentioned.

Joseph chuckled softly. "She is..." He agreed.

"You care about Beth, right?" Steve asked.

"Of course!" Joseph exclaimed, and looked at Steve like he was insane.

"She cares about you, Joseph. You two _will _make amends." Thor said.

Joseph smiled, with a hint of teenage embarrassment. "Thank you. I really needed this. I know what to do."

"Your welcome. Odds are, she's having a talk like this with someone else right now..." Steve said, and Joseph laughed.

* * *

I was woken up by something small repeatedly hitting my face. I blinked and squinted at the sunshine as another object smacked me between the eyes. Catching it, I opened it my hand to see a peanut resting on my palm. _What the heck?_

Another hit me in the forehead, and I looked up to see Iron Man hovering outside the balcony, holding a bag of peanuts. He hurled an additional peanut. This time, I managed to swat it away. I glared at my uncle.

"The sign says not to feed the animals, but since when do I follow the rules?" he said, his voice sounding all tinny from inside his helmet. I continued to glare at him and didn't speak.

"Fine. Not ready for humor, I get it." he said, and flew over the wall of the balcony and landed in front of me. He pressed a button on his wrist, and his suit collapsed off his body and formed a briefcase-of-sorts. Tony sat down next to me and held out his bag of peanuts. I grabbed a handful and we munched in silence. I wasn't ready to talk just yet.

"You know," Tony began after a few minutes. "Steve has been searching for you for hours. Apparently, the Guardians want to learn more about Earth and they wanted your help. Figured I could look for you myself."

I cleared my throat. "How did you find me?" I asked, and popped another peanut in my mouth.

Tony chuckled. "I designed this tower. I know all of its secrets." he bragged.

I nodded. "Makes sense." I replied, still trying to avoid the elephant on the balcony.

"Beth. Why have you been hiding here the whole afternoon?" Tony inquired.

I sighed. _Dang it..._ "Joseph and I had a fight. A bad one. I feel absolutely horrible - especially because it's my fault."

Tony nudged my shoulder. "C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad..."

I shook my head. "It was awful. All I said was that I was glad he wasn't going to be in the middle of the battle so he would be safe, and then he got really angry - like, _really _angry. He's under the impression that I don't think he's strong enough or good enough or something..."

Tony chuckled. "Mistake number one, Beth. Guys _always_ react badly when a girl questions their strength..."

I sat up, frustration running through my veins. "That's so stupid! I wasn't questioning Joseph's anything, and he's not one of those macho-don't-doubt-my-manliness dudes anyway!" I exclaimed.

Tony laughed out loud at my choice of words. "It doesn't matter. It's a part of every man, no matter how small..."

I shook my head and let my hands flop onto my legs. "But there was more to it...I think he's, I don't know, jealous of y'all or something? Because he said that if he had superpowers I wouldn't think he was unimportant, and that being the "Avengers tag-along" doesn't make me better than him" I said.

"The last thing he said to me was "When did you become so superficial?"...that definitely stung. I didn't mean to make him feel that way and I certainly hope I am not treating Joseph in a way that makes me superficial..." I continued. I dropped my head in my hands and leaned back against the wall. "This is literally the worst time we could be fighting..."

Tony snickered. "Yeah...Beth, look at me." he instructed and poked my arm. I peered at my uncle. Instead of the usual impish twinkle, his eyes were filled with compassion.

"You two are going to be just fine. You both care about each other very much. Just go and apologize and everything will be back to normal, okay?"

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Tony." I said as I stood up. I made my face fall into a look of disapproval. "Never throw peanuts at me again, okay?"

Tony exaggeratedly sighed. "Fine..." He grabbed his briefcase suit and we walked inside.

* * *

I wanted to talk to Joseph, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to me yet. I mean, Joseph and I are close enough to where I knew we would speak eventually, but he _was_ pretty mad. I decided to give Joseph some more space for a while. Sitting at the table, I was eating ice cream out of the container.

Natasha slipped into the kitchen. She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and sat across from me. I silently passed her the container and she took a bite.

Natasha waved her spoon at me. "Hard day?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, Joseph and I had a fight. Our first huge one. But, I know what I have to do." I explained.

Natasha smiled. "Good. Last I saw Joseph, he was in the hallway of his bedroom." she informed me before taking a final bite of ice cream, putting her spoon in the sink, and leaving the kitchen.

Not a moment later, Peter and Gamora walked in. "There you are!" Peter exclaimed as he skipped over to the table. Gamora smirked and followed.

"We were wondering if you could teach us more about Earth." Gamora said.

I smiled and set down the carton. "Like what? History, technology, pop culture?"

Peter guiltily looked to the side. "Uh, no offense, but Earth technology is pretty outdated compared to ours...You guys are still light years away from transverse particle minimizers and sub-optic index recorders..."

I frowned. "I'm not even going to pretend to know what those are...Anyway, why don't we start with some fun stuff, like video games." I suggested.

"_Please _tell me they've gotten cooler than Pac-Man and Tetris!" Peter pleaded.

I nodded. "Waayyyy cooler."

* * *

After I had played Mariokart with the Guardians for an hour, I decided it was time to finally have a chat with my boyfriend. I took the elevator to the floor where our guests were staying. My stomach was in knots. The ping when the doors opened almost sounded ominous.

I padded down the hallway in my bare feet. It was dead silent. Approaching the door, I took a calming inhale. I knocked three times on the door, and it sounded really loud in the empty hallway.

After a few moments, I heard Joseph shuffle inside his room. The door opened, and I was face to face with a very groggy Joseph. He was wearing an old Yankees shift and plaid pajama pants with a major case of bed-head. Even though this was a serious moment, I still thought he looked cute. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Joseph rubbed his eyes, and once he registered who I was his eyes widened and he coughed.

Joseph ran his hands through his hair. "Uh, hi." he said sheepishly.

I glanced at my feet. "Hi." I mumbled. "Did I wake you?" I asked.

He shook his head and shrugged. "Eh, not really."

I sighed. "Enough beating around the bush..." I said with a small smile. "Can we talk?"

Joseph nodded quickly. "Yeah. Uh, why don't we go to that lounge area?"

"Sure!" I replied, and we walked over to the couches and coffee table that were at the end of the hallway.

We sat down next to each other, but there was still some awkwardness. As in, we were facing forward on the cushions and nervously running our clammy hands up and down our legs. _C'mon Beth! Woman up! This is Joseph you're talking to, he's not a scary dude..._

I shifted once more in my seat before turning to him. "Alright. I'm just gonna go ahead and talk because the silence is killing me." I began. Joseph turned to me and smiled a bit. "I'm sorry that I made you feel like you weren't good enough. That wasn't my intention at all. I'm just scared. What's going on right now is nothing we ever could imagine. Aliens, stones with magical powers...I am terrified for everyone. I care about you a lot, and I'm sorry I hurt you."

Joseph sighed. "I never should have yelled at you like that. I know you weren't trying to insult me, but your words just struck a nerve I guess. It's hard living with a bunch of superheroes and feel like you're the odd man out. I shouldn't have called you superficial. I'm really sorry, Beth. I care about you a lot, too."

I smiled. "We good?" I asked him, and held out my arms for a hug.

Joseph chuckled. "Yeah. We're good." he put his arms around me. I squeezed him extra tight.

"I'm glad we got that out of the way...Wanna play Mariokart? When I left to find you everybody was still playing it downstairs..." I suggested.

Joseph nodded. "Sounds fun."

...

"OUTTA MY WAY!" Clint shouted as he zoomed past Drax. The archer leaned to the left as he gained the lead.

"Go! Go! Go!" Steve screamed from the kitchen, where he and Thor were munching on pretzels. Everybody else was scattered about the living room and kitchen chatting and eating snacks.

"This is an OUTRAGE!" Drax yelled in response. "Taste the disappointment of my bananas!" he declared and threw a bunch of bananas in front of Clint's car, causing him to crash and spin off the track.

"What the heck?!" Clint shouted in defeat, and slumped back into the couch.

Rocket's eyes widened. "Did he just use figurative language?" he said in disbelief.

I nodded. "I think so..." I said, impressed.

Peter took a swig of his soda. Setting it down, he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "I'm so proud..."

I got up from the couch and walked over to the fridge. Grabbing the chocolate milk, I poured myself a glass and joined my brothers at the island.

"What's up?" I asked them as I took a handful of pretzels from the bag.

"Nothing much." Steve replied. "Just cheering on Birdbrain."

"I heard that!" Clint called from the couch.

"How are things with Joseph?" Steve asked.

"Ah, yes. Did everything work out between you?" Thor inquired.

I smirked. "How do you know that something was going on?" I wondered, realizing they must have talked to Joseph.

Steve and Thor sheepishly looked away. "Thank you. We're going to be just fine." I genuinely said, and they looked back with a smile.

"Glad to hear it." Thor said.

Suddenly, the racetrack on the TV was replaced with the letters "Incoming Call".

"Accept." Clint directed. We figured it was Fury with some news. Instead, an alien with a purple face came into focus.

"Hello Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy. And you, mortal girl." Groot gasped, and the only other sound was my glass hitting the ground and shattering into tiny pieces.

...

Nobody moved, or spoke. I guess my family wanted to see what Thanos would say first. The warlord chuckled. It was a disgusting sound, and I managed to swallow the bile building up in my throat.

"I see you have forgotten your manners. But, from your faces I can assume you know who I am. My ship picked up on your tracking device as soon as we entered your pathetic solar system, and I wish to inform you that I will be raining terror down on your planet in approximately one hour your time."

Thor held out his hand, and Mjolnir flew into his grasp. Thanos rolled his eyes and sighed, as if this conversation bored him. I kinda believed it did. "Not yet, Thor Odinson. That part comes later. You-" he said, and looked right at me. My stomach flipped, and I sucked in a breath.

"I believe you have something of mine. Whether you give me the Stone willingly, or if I have to pry it from your corpse makes no difference to me, but I will retrieve it. I have decided to begin my tirade on New York City. You have finally recovered from the Chitari invasion, and we cannot have that, now can we?" Thanos smiled evilly before the screen went black.

The silence was so thick I felt like it was closing in on me. _This is really happening right now..._I thought before promptly throwing up in the trashcan.

* * *

"We knew this day would come, and we have prepared for it. The Helicarriers and lifeboats are already on evac. You are the best in the business. Be safe out there." Fury said from the front of the Quinjet. En route to Central Park, I sat next to Joseph with my hand tightly clasped in his own. We glanced at each other, worry and fear clouding our eyes.

I looked around at everybody. Anticipation ran through our bodies, and their expressions mirrored my own. I tried to stop my leg from jiggling constantly, but to no avail.

"Landing in forty-five seconds." Maria announced, and set the jet into autopilot before joining us in the back. We stood up. Joseph let go of my hand as he hugged his mom. Maria blinked back tears. She rested her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I love you." she stated.

Joseph smiled back. "I love you too."

He then turned to me and nearly crushed me in his arms. I scrunched my fists in his jacket and tucked my head under his chin.

"Be careful." he whispered.

I nodded, still against his chest. "You too." I replied.

The jet shifted slightly as we touched down. I pulled away from Joseph. Daylight poured inside as the door opened. I took a calming exhale, or as calming as I could get with everybody's life on the line.

Clint nudged my arm. I turned to him. He winked at me as if to say, _Everything will be just fine._ I quirked the corners of my mouth into a half-smile. My eyes adjusted to the brightness as we stepped out of the jet.

"Get to your positions!" Steve commanded through the comms. I began running and didn't look back, the adrenaline beginning to take over my body. I directed my entire focus onto my job. As Lifeboats 25-30 came into view, I began shouting.

"I'm with the Avengers! Get to the lifeboats, NOW!" I screamed as I approached throngs of confused citizens. "I'm with the Avengers and I'm here to help! GO!"

People began filing into the boats as quickly as possible. Mothers grabbed their children and tugged them along. Families held on to each other as they ran.

I jumped onto the side of Boat 27. Standing on the ledge, I held on to the support beam and took a hold of the loudspeaker. I cleared my throat and watched the panic around me. Citizens were buckling their seatbelts and reassuring the people around them. I held the mic up to my mouth and pressed the trigger.

"Attention passengers of Lifeboats 25-30!" I waited for a moment as they quieted down. Scared faces turned to me. "My name is Beth Jordan. I am with the Avengers. We are bringing you to a safe and secure location, where you will be protected. New York City is currently under threat of an imminent alien attack." Gasps filled the air around me. "Once the threat has been neutralized, we will begin returning you to your homes. Please cooperate fully with all personnel. Thank you."

I hopped off the boat and jogged over to Boat 25. "Everybody good?" I asked the SHIELD agent who was currently checking each passenger's seat belt.

He nodded. "All seats filled. We are lifting off in one minute."

"Thanks." I replied, and moved to the next lifeboats.

...

I examined the sky after my boats flew away. Clear and bright blue. _Too pretty for what's going down today. _I pressed the comm in my ear. "Lifeboats 25-30 are en route to the safe zone. No signs of hostiles in the air."

"You don't have to talk like that, you know..." Tony commented. I could sense the sarcasm through the comms even though my uncle was patrolling around 200 yards in the air.

Everybody's laughter sounded in my ears. I couldn't help but feel my face grow hot. I snorted. "Neither do you! Now, leave me alone. Have y'all seen anything?"

"Nay." Thor replied. "No hostiles in my line of sight."

"None." Bruce grunted.

I sighed. "So we continue hauling citizens away until the bad guys show up?"

"Yep. The lifeboats are returning for round two of extraction. Everybody back to your stations." Clint replied.

We spent the next hour loading people and taking them far away from the city. It went fairly smoothly. Law enforcement was aiding in evac of other citizens who were driving out of the city. Everybody was almost out of danger when the first fireball came crashing down in the middle of the street.

The hour was up.


End file.
